J-NRLF 


mi. 


I.I  HKAK  V 

,  ni-  THJ-: 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

01  KT   OK 


Deceived 
Jccessums  N 


.  .,  ^  i  ^  i 


FRIGE  25  GENTS 


Scientific 


floney 


AN  flMERIGflN  DOLLflR 

Should  Have  Only 
These  Qualities 


FIRST  : 

It  is  a  standard  fixed  by  the  nation  for 
and  as  a  measure  of  the  value  of  all 
other  things. 

SECOND : 

It  is  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts. 

THIRD  : 

It  is  any  substance  without  commodity 
value  and  in  convenient  form  for  use 
in  exchanges. 

FOURTH : 

It  is  redeemed  when  debts  are  paid  and 
exchanges  are  effected  by  it. 


TAYLOR   ROGERS 


:  .  CO.,  J. 


3333  Washington  Street,    SAN  FRANCISCO,   CALIFORNIA. 

COPYRIGHTED. 


practice,  a  Californian  since  1852  and  a  political 
speaker  since  1876,  my  ignorance  on  this  momentous 
question  was  a  positive  fact. 

Stung  with  his  taunt  and  ashamed  of  his  accusation, 
my  investigations  were  commenced  and  prosecuted 
with  the  sole  aim  of  reaching  the  truth.  The  results 
are  presented  herein.  By  necessity  much  is  condensed. 
The  reader  may  expand  and  apply  the  ideas  suggested 
in  this  pamphlet.  Its  ideas,  whether  stated  or  sug- 
gested, are  not  new  to  the  fearless, thinking  world,  but 
they  will  be  new  to  a  man  who  has  imbibed  his  notions 
from  the  daily  Press,  and  has  obtained  his  financial 
knowledge  from  those  benefitted  by  the  present  system. 
Their  interests  are  special,  yours  is  general.  Their  pur- 
poses are  to  retain  their  peculiar  privileges.  Your  aim 
should  be  to  bring  happiness  and  equality  to  all  citi- 
zens. Don't  misunderstand  me.  There  can  be  no  equal- 
ity in  the  mind  and  strength  of  different  people,  but 
there  can  and  should  be  equality  in  the  conception  and 
execution  of  our  general  laws.  The  present  Finance 
system  has  neither.  Hence  it  should  be  abolished. 
This  pamphlet  is  published  to  aid  in  bringing  this 
"equality,"  and  for  the  expansion  of  our  money  to  our 
needs. 

Therefore,  in  the  name  of  our  illustrious  ancestors, 
in  the  name  of  the  toiling,  weary  and  hungry  millions 
of  to-day,  in  the  name  of  the  unborn  generations, 
whose  future  environment  we  are  now  fashioning,  you 
are  entreated  to  study  the  currency  issue  and  to  deter- 
mine whether  patriotism  does  not  demand  that  this 
nation  shall  adopt  a  scientific  money,  having  certain 
essentials  which  may  be  expressed  as  follows:  A  Dollar 
should  have  these  qualities : 

First — It  is  a  standard  fixed  by  the  nation  for  and 
as  a  measure  of  the  value  of  all  other  things. 

Second — It  is  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts. 

Third — It  is    any    substance    without  commodity 


value  and  in  convenient  form  for  use  in  exchanges. 

Fourth— It  is  redeemed  when  debts  are  paid  and  ex- 
changes are  effected  by  it. 

In  our  sublime  National  drama,  two  acts  have  been 
played.  Now  the  curtain  is  up  again  and  new  actors 
appear.  But  it  is  the  same  old  story.  For  to  me  Jef- 
ferson's democracy,  as  embodied  in  his  first  Inaugural, 
and  Lincoln's  Republicanism,  as  uttered  in  his  speeches 
and  shown  in  his  life,  and  REFORM  are  a  Trinity,  being 
one  and  the  same  thing,  seeking  to  measure  out  justice 
to  the  rich,  to  insure  equality  for  the  poor  and  to  be- 
stow happiness  upon  all. 

The  first  organization— DEMOCRACY— at  the  dawn 
of  the  Century,  met  and  overturned  the  Monarchical 
sentiment,  embodied  in  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws, 
and  brought  the  government  back  to  the  People. 

Fifty  years  later  the  next  movemene— REPUBLICAN- 
ISM— drove  the  Slave  Power  from  our  limits,  and  thus 
decreed  that  our  flag  could  wave  over  freemen  only,  be- 
cause our  soil  is  too  holy  for  the  foot  of  the  slave. 

Catching  the  spirit  of  these  two  mighty  impulses 
for  human  liberty,  and  antagonizing  the  same  old  man- 
owning  tendency  in  its  third  incarnation  in  this  coun- 
try, the  regenerating  Reform  at  the  close  of  this  won- 
derful century,  bares  its  breast  for  a  mortal  combat 
with  the  Money  Power,  and  trusts  to  American  Man- 
hood for  victory. 

To  aid  in  gaining  this  triumph  for  the  "Plain  Peo- 
ple" and  if  not  too  late  and  if  possible  to  get  it  through 
ballots,  is  the  Mission  of  this  Pamphlet. 

Your  friend  in  truth, 


SCIENTIFIC  MONEY. 


Certain  fundamental  ideas  have  governed  the  rise, 
growth  and  strength  of  our  nation.  A  true  compre- 
hension of  them  leads  to  conclusions  consistent  with 
the  genius  of  our  institutions  and  places  our  people  in 
harmony  with  that  basic  philosophy,  which  has  been 
tested  for  a  century,  and  sanctified  by  our  common 
sorrows.  These  ideas  are  the  foundation  principles  on 
which  our  Government  rests,  concentrating  in  one  con- 
ception, God,  Nature  and  Man. 

As  to  Deity,  the  answer  of  Theology  and  Evolution 
is  practically  the  same.  Self-existent,  His  attributes 
are  omniscience,  omnipotence,  eternity  and  mercy. 
Each  system  ascribes  to  Him  all  created  things.  One 
affirms  an  instantaneous  act,  described  in  Genesis;  the 
other  declares  certain  Laws  were  set  to  operating,  and 
that  the  universe  is  their  fruitage,  consuming  un- 
counted years  in  its  production.  But  in  each  process 
Law  is  present  and  controls.  It  is  seen  in  the  star's 
soft  light,  in  the  sun-painted  lily,  in  the  wild  energy 
evolved  from  burning  coal,  in  the  crude  effort  of  man, 
finally  crystallizing  into  our  civilization. 

For  the  significant  reason  that  no  definition  is  pos- 
sible, our  Constitution  is  silent  as  to  God,  yet  it  builds 
a  civilization  in  every  way  based  on  moral  accounta- 
bility to  Him. 

In  unison  with  what  one  said  : 

"All  are  but  parts  of  one  stupetiduous  whole 
Whose  body  Nature  is,  and  God  the  soul." 

and  another  sang: 


"Thus  at  the  roaring  loom  of  Time  I  ply, 

And  weave  the  garment  which  thou  seest  Him  by," 

Nature  is  the  visible  manifestation  of  these  laws  of  be- 
ing, coming  from  the  first  Greac  Cause.  They  are  con- 
stant and  uniform.  The  studious  knowledge  of  them  is 
Science.  The  comprehensive  application  of  them  re- 
sults in  all  our  inventions  and  implements. 

Man's  origin  is  in  doubt.  If  in  the  Garden,  then 
the  historic  chain  is  complete.  If  in  the  Protoplasm, 
then  Science  has  not  yet  found  all  his  upward  steps. 
He  is  a  fact.  His  home  is  the  earth.  All  his  needs  may 
be  resolved  back  into  his  use  of  and  access  to  these  four 
gilts  of  Nature — Land,  Air,  Water  and  Sunlight. 

He  is  always  under  the  domain  of  law.  It  wraps 
him  in  its^folds  as  a  mantle.  His  mind  has  its  limita- 
tions and  rules  of  action.  His  body  is  at  all  points 
subject  to  its  environment.  His  moral  nature  links  his 
soul  to  the  universe  and  crowns  him  with  immortality. 
Without  this  use  and  this  access  to  these  four  gifts,  life 
is  impossible.  Deprive  man  of  either  or  its  equivalent, 
and  death  ensures. 

Then,  it  is  evident  that  in  the  economy  of  nature, 
man  must  have  liberty  to  use  what  he  requires  of  these 
for  his  maintenance  and  development.  In  a  pure  state 
of  nature  this  liberty  he  enjoys.  His  home  is  the  broad 
earth  without  rent.  His  wealth  is  his  product,  taken 
from  Nature's  bounty  without  a  tax  therefor.  He  can 
labor  without  a  master  and  keep  all  of  his  effort.  All 
capital  springs  from  the  brain  and  brawn  of  labor.  It 
is  not  distinct  from  labor.  In  wealth  there  are  in  truth 
but  two  factors — Land  and  Labor.  Our  material  civ- 
ilization exists,  because  the  omnipotence  of  the  worker 
has  willed  is  being. 

All  capital  would  perish  or  its  value  would  vanish 
if  the  giant  hand  of  the  toiler  were  withdrawn.  The 
conceptions  of  the  architect,  glorifying  in  the  visions  of 
the  Pyramids,  of  Solomon's  Temple,  of  the  Parthenon> 


remained  but  conceptions,  till  patient  Toil  touched  the 
stones  and  bade  them  be  immortal. 

Out  of  this  trinity — God,  Nature  and  Man — comes 
Society.  It  is  the  bringing  of  two  or  more  men  within 
the  circle  of  each  other's  influences.  The  circles  touch  or 
intersect.  In  a  contact  there  is  one  influence.  In  an  in- 
tersection there  are  two  influences.  With  the  increase 
of  men  the  effects  are  multiplied,  their  circles  crossing 
and  recrossing  many  times.  These  effects  are  mani- 
fested by  modifications  of  each  man's  unrestrained 
liberty  to  use  the  providences  of  nature.  As  the  devel- 
oping from  the  free  to  the  social  condition  progresses, 
one  liberty  is  enlarged  and  another  restrained,  the 
changes  touching  alike  each  and  all.  This  enlargement 
or  restraint  of  natural  liberties  in  this  country  grows 
out  of  the  consent  of  all  our  people,  gain  in  one  direction 
compensating  for  loss  in  another.  This  consent  is  the 
only  basis  for  law,  and  every  law  must  be  construed 
with  reference  to  its  effect  upon  man's  natural  liberties 
as  specified.  Therefore,  before  the  tribunal  of  Reason, 
any  law  that  operates  to  curb  the  right  of  man  to  en- 
joy these  fcur  opportunities  is  unjust  and  in  conflict 
with  natural  rights.  It  should  be  repealed.  This 
should  be  effected  by  the  means  provided  in  the  organic 
law.  The  reason  for  this  compliance  arises  out  of  the 
fact,  that  consent  makes  the  law  and  the  like  consent  is 
necessary  to  its  repeal. 

The  vital  element  in  our  society,  whether  based  on 
consent  or  force,  is  that  the  majority  shall  rule  and  ex- 
press the  will  of  the  whole.  In  this  case,  from  necessity, 
the  value  of  the  law  is  to  be  measured  by  its  effects 
upon  the  greater  part  of  the  people,  counting  them  only 
by  numbers.  Hence,  as  freedom  of  the  individual  is  the 
great  and  supreme  end  of  government,  it  may  be  asked, 
how  are  his  rights  to  be  conserved,  it  he  must  bend  to 
the  ultimatum  of  the  majority?  There  are  three 
answers. 

6 


He  must  leave  the  State  and  cease  to  be  a  citizen, 
or  he  must  submit  to  the  will  of  the  greater  part,  and 
appeal  to  reason  for  the  endorsement  of  his  views,  or 
he  must  rebel  and  overturn  by  force  the  ruling  power. 
In  the  first  place,  he  abandons  the  field  and  is  estopped 
from  complaint.  In  the  next  place,  within  the  means 
sanctioned  by  law,  he  may  arouse  the  public  conscience 
to  the  assault  against  his  rights  and  seek  to  have  his 
own  views  incorporated  in  the  organic  law.  This  is  a 
conquest  of  intellect — here  are  the  laurels  of  mind — the 
empire  of  reason.  In  the  last  place,  according  as  he 
succeeds,  his  reward  is  the  chaplet  of  the  patriot  or  the 
halter  of  the  rebel.  Here  is  the  arena  of  Force.  In  this 
final  contest  of  the  citizen  for  supremacy  there  are  no 
other  methods  of  decision.  It  is  leave,  yield  or  fight. 

It  may  be  wrong.  That  is  to  say,  the  effect  on  the 
majority  may  turn  out  bad.  The  transcendent  will  of 
the  majority  is  restrained  partly  by  our  Constitution. 
Even  that  must  change  at  the  dictation  of  the  many. 
To  Time  vindication  is  committed.  In  the  scales  of 
Logic  and  Reason  the  defeated  must  place  his  cause 
and  wait  for  the  future  to  measure  it.  Within  the  lim- 
itations imposed  by  our  Constitution,  the  voter  may 
labor,  speak  and  vote  to  change  any  fundamental  Act. 
His  liberty  in  this  respect  is  not  to  be  restrained,  nor 
his  activity  curbed.  Against  this  effort  all  may  unite 
to  defeat  his  purposes.  Herein  lies  the  true  sphere  of 
the  American  citizen.  As  mere  iliustrations  of  the 
principle  just  asserted,  it  may  be  suggested  that,  acting 
within  the  restraints  of  existing  laws,  the  Anarchist 
may  cry  for  "general  upheaval,"  so  that  his  scheme, 
phoenix-like,  may  rise  from  the  ashes,  the  Mormon  may 
declare  for  polygamy  as  a  right,  the  Jew  may  vote  for 
the  Mosaic  as  the  national  creed,  the  non-American 
Papist  may  assert  the  supremacy  of  the  Church;  the 
Puritan  may  want  God  in  the  Constitution;  one  may 
cry  for  Single  Tax,  and  another  may  declare  for  Pro- 


tection  or  Free  Trade;  and  every  other  American,  if  so 
mindedf  may  legitimately  oppose  him,  claiming  that 
such  ideas  are  inconsistent  with  the  genius  of  this  gov- 
ernment and  tending  to  its  overthrow,  or  he  may  com- 
bine with  his  neighbor  for  their  advocacy,  and,  gaining 
enough  votes,  may  incorporate  his  doctrines  into  our 
laws. 

While  the  Constitution  rightly  forbids  Legislation 
in  matters  of  religion,  and  declines  to  define  certain 
opinions  as  qualifying  one  to  be  an  official,  yet  in  the 
fact  that  each  person  is  entitled  to  unrestrained  liberty 
of  thought,  the  American  can  decide  in  his  own  mind 
that  the  possession  of  a  certain  "set  of  opinions"  by  an 
aspirant  is  a  good  reason  for  voting  against  him.  If  he 
may  oppose  a  candidate  because  he  is  a  Protectionist 
or  Mono-met allist,  or  otherwise,  he  may  likewise  op- 
pose another  candidate  because  of  his  opinions  on 
Morals  or  Labor,  or  Strikes  or  Capital,  or  because  the 
candidate  entertains  fixed  opinions  on  such  questions, 
he  may  endorse  and  vote  for  him. 

In  other  words  the  last  analysis  leads  to  this  state- 
ment: The  American  voter  is  an  uncrowned  sovereign 
in  his  suffrage,  accountable  only  to  his  own  manhood. 
In  every  case  the  individual  complying  with  the  law  in 
form  and  spirit,  must  have  his  liberty  to  speak  and 
vote  for  his  views  regardless  of  their  radical  tendency. 
To  the  crucible  of  the  ballot-box  all  must  submit  their 
opinions  and  take  the  dross  or  metal,  as  the  test  re- 
sults. Thus  every  one  has  liberty  of  thought,  of  wor- 
ship and  of  suffrage.  This  is  a  practical  application  of 
the  Golden  Rule,  the  sublimest  Law  ever  pronounced. 

Our  forefather's  Declaration  under  its  inspiration, 
says: 

"That  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their 
Creator  with  certain  unalienable  rights;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  that  to  secure  these  rights,  gov- 


ernments are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed;  that  whenever  any  form  of  go 


'government 


becomes  destructive  of  these  ends  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter 
or  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government,  laying  its  founda- 
tion on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such  form,  as  to 
them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness." 

Within  this,  the  grandest  human  definition  of  man's 
rights,  the  individual  may  keep  his  life,  enjoy  his  liberty 
and  seek  his  happiness.  But  jthese  can  be  obtained 
only  when  his  natural  opportunities  are  unhampered 
and  when  all  the  fruits  of  his  labor  are  applied  to  his 
own  wants,  and  without  division  wTith  any  master. 
He  has  capacity  out  of  Nature's  abundance  to  supply 
his  needs.  In  a  free  condition  he  wrould  rely  solely  on 
himself  to  supply  all  his  demands,  but  in  a  social  envi- 
ronment he  depends  on  an  exchange  on  an  exchange  of 
his  labor  effected  by  money. 

This  brings  us    to  our  main  question  : 
WHAT  IS  MONEY? 

Man  is  prior  to  money  or  its  idea.  The  conception 
thereof  comes  to  him  only  in  those  times  when  the  rudi- 
mentary elements  of  society  appear.  As  this  is  univer- 
sally conceded  to  be  true,  then,  to  get  a  clear  concep- 
tion of  money  we  must  revert  to  those  periods  in  his- 
tory when  it  did  not  exist.  Strip  off  the  habiliments  of 
our  civilizatiod  and  place  man  in  primeval  conditions. 
To  sustain  life  he  must  labor  to  supply  his  daily  needs. 
If  nature  is  not  prodigal  enough  in  fruits,  grains,  etc., 
he  must  then  cultivate  them  and  preserve  them  for  use 
at  the  times  wrhen  they  are  out  of  season.  The  trophies 
of  the  chase  he  converts  into  weapons,  tools,  and  cloth- 
ing. The  usufruct  of  his  productions  or  captures  is  his 
absolutely,  because  he  is  their  sole  creator.  In  their 
enjoyment  no  one  has  a  right  of  participation.  By  in- 
dustry earth  yields  to  him  more  than  he  needs.  This  is 
the  earliest  form  of  over-production.  There  is  an  over- 
plus. What  will  he  do  with  it?  When  there  are  neigh- 
bors he  will  give  it  to  them  or  exchange  it  with  them 


for  their  overplus  of  products.  The  result  is  trade. 
One  by  his  industry  has  obtained  all  he  ne^ds  of  a  cer- 
tain article  and  has  some  to  spare.  His  neighbor  is  in 
like  condition.  Each  wants  the  overplus  of  th^  other. 
They  meet,  exchange  views  and  inquire  the  time  spent 
in  the  production  of  each  one's  article.  The  trade  is 
made  on  that  basis. 

There  is  no  method  of  measuring  the  value  of  labor 
bestowed  except  by  counting  the  time  employed.  In 
all  the  earlier  forms  of  society,  the  hours  or  days  spent 
in  making  a  thing  furnished  the  sole  test  of  its  value. 
This  principle  obtains  to-day  practically  in  all  valua- 
tions. For  in  skilled  and  professional  callings,  the  pro- 
duct is  still  measured  largely  by  the  prior  time  con- 
sumed in  acquiring  the  knowledge  requisite  for  its 
creation.  The  mechanic,  in  computing  his  wage-price, 
considers  the  hours  spent  in  college,  the  days  used  in  ex- 
periments the  years  devoted  by  him  to  the  blending  of 
brain  and  hand  in  the  thing  desired.  In  the  lawyer's 
fee  is  condensed  the  failures  and  triumphs  of  a  lifetime. 
With  the  physician's  prescription  is  compounded  the 
diseases,  sorrows,  pains,  and  restorations  of  all  his 
preceding  patients. 

Now,  as  the  abstract  is  the  realm  of  logic  and 
mathematics,  so  the  concrete  appeals  tojsense — seeing, 
feeling  and  touching.  Therefore,  let  the  picture  become 
a  reality  to  your  mind — let  the  marble  become  a  sen- 
tient beiag,  speaking  and  showing  its  hands  to  dispel 
your  doubts. 

Here  is  a  scene  that  may  be  imagined.  This  beau- 
tiful valley  at  the  sea  is  garlanded  with  flowers, 
threaded  by  a  flowing  river,  blessed  with  fertility  of 
soil,  suitable  to  all  human  wants  and  gladdened  with 
the  sunshine,  radiant  all  the  year.  The  gigantic  forests 
stand  there,  vocal  with  the  song  of  bird, — being  the 
shady  home  of  fauna,  useful  for  food  and  clothing. 
That  stream  teems  with  fish,  and  here  where  it  cuts  the 

10 


hill  stand  out  the  veins  of  coal,  and  yonder  show  the 
iron  rocks.  The  theologian  says,  "This  is  for  man;" 
and  the  scientist  adds,  "Here  all  conditions  are  fit  for 
his  highest  development." 

Here  are  found  lour  men.  Each,  with  his  family 
wagons,  tools,  animals,  etc.,  selects  a  home  and  trusts 
to  nature  and  his  labor  for  sustenance.  In  the  group 
are  a  Farmer  and  stockman,  a  Blacksmith  and  oper- 
ator in  metals,  a  Mechanic  and  builder  of  mills  and  a 
Tanner  and  worker  in  leather.  The  antecedents  of 
these  people  are  immaterial.  The  purpose  is  to  im- 
agine a  condition  where  a  new  society  is  planted  with- 
out a  government  and  without  finances,  and  investing 
them  with  certain  advances  in  knowledge.  Being 
without  money  and  without  the  possibility  of  purchase 
from  any  stranger,  each  must  and  does  rely  upon  him- 
self. Hence,  each  family  must  follow  all  the  callings 
needed  to  their  wants.  Each  must  combine  in  himself 
all  the  vocations  of  the  others  just  named.  This  re- 
sults in  waste  of  time  and  renders  manifest  the  imper- 
fections of  each,  when  outside  his  own  specialties. 
When  this  appears,  then  it  becomes  the  tacit,  if  not  ex- 
pressed consent  of  all,  that  the  farmer  shall  devote  his 
labor  to  raising  cereals,  fruits,  cattle  and  horses  for  all. 
The  tanner  prepares  all  the  leather  in  any  way  used 
and  converts  it  into  the  manufactured  article  for  the 
little  group  of  people,  and  the  blacksmith  melts  his  iron 
ore,  and  fashions  it  to  their  various  utilities,  while  the 
machinist  supplies  all  with  their  requirements  in  his 
line. 

Now,  referring  to  the  time  involved  in  the  produc- 
tion as  a  measure  of  value,  the  farmer  exchanges  a  sack 
of  wheat  with  the  tanner  for  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  a  bar- 
rel of  fruit  with  the  blacksmith  for  an  iron  hoe,  a  load 
of  timber  with  the  machinst  for  the  grinding  of  a  grist 
at  his  mill.  Each  has  parted  with  his  own  product  for 
the  handiwork  of  his  neighbor.  The  condition  of  each 

11 


is  bettered.  A  gain  has  accrued  to  both.  The  labor  of 
the  farmer,  applied  to  the  earth  by  this  simple  alchemy, 
has  been  transmuted  into  shoes,  hoe  and  flour.  By  the 
magic  thus  evoked,  the  tanner  has  seen  his  labor,  exhib- 
ited in  the  shoes,  before  his  vision  materialize  into  the 
golden  grain,  and  at  command,  the  blacksmith  has 
noted  his  hoe  instantly  transformed  into  the  luscious 
fruit.  The  machinst  turns  his  skilled  service  into  a  sub- 
stantial pile  of  lumber. 

How  have  the  marvels  been  effected?  Is  it  by  leger- 
demain? Nay!  Two  human  wants  meet — two  human 
products  appear — two  consents  as  to  their  ownership 
become  manifest.  There  is  no  unseen  mystery.  All  the 
vast  exchanges  of  men  and  nations  rest  on  this  simple 
basis.  Now,  so  long  as  each  of  the  four  settlers  has 
produced  the  exact  thing  that  his  neighbor  wants  there 
is  no  difficulty  in  their  exchanges.  But  in  the  unfolding 
of  their  labors  an  obstacle  presents  itself.  The  farmer 
has  a  surplus  of  grain  and  wants  leather  for  a  new 
harness.  The  tanner,  although  anxious  to  trade,  has 
no  suitable  leather  prepared.  It  is  still  in  his  vats. 
Months  are  required  for  the  completing  processes.  It 
is  evident  that  the  farmer  must  place  his  grain  with  the 
tanner  and  wait  for  the  leather,  That  is,  he  must  ex- 
tend credit.  The  tanner  agrees,  and  to  his  neighbor 
hands  a  token  inscribed,  ''Good  for  a  tanned  hide."  It 
is  accepted.  Why?  Because  human  faith  has  been 
pledged  and  is  regarded  sacred.  On  what  do.es  the 
value  of  this  token  rest? 

Ransack  the  treasures  of  Philosophy— torture 
Logic  upon  the  rack — question  the  priests  of  Reason- 
cross-examine  the  prophets  of  Finance,  and  the  simple 
answer  of  all  will  be  condensed  into  the  single,  truth- 
ful, but  grandly  eloquent  response,  ' 'consent."  Now, 
the  same  obstacles  are  continually  met  to  the  ex- 
changes of  these  people  and  solved  in  like  manner — the 
giving  and  receiving  tokens  bearing  "inscriptions,"  and 

12 


being  representations  of  value,  yet  possessing  none  in- 
trinsically. 

A  token  issued  by  one  is  received  by  all  and  their 
products  are  transferred  in  consequence  thereof.  The 
circulation  of  the  token  rests  upon  this  proposition : 
That  the  holder  has  in  the  token,  an  order  on  each  and 
all  of  his  neighbors  for  their  surplus  products.  By 
common  consent  they  pass  from  one  to  another,  and 
thus  facilitate  the  easy  transmutation  of  one  man's 
labor  into  something  else  desired  by  him.  But  is  this 
not  the  exact  purpose  of  all  trade,  local,  national,  uni- 
versal? Can  Commerce  find  any  other  design  for  her 
varied  million  dailv  exchanges,  except  that  one  set  of 
men  prefer,  above  their  own,  the  manual  creations  of 
their  neighbors?  The  final  analysis  of  the  motives  for 
all  trading  leads  to  this  simple  fact,  that  each  finds  his 
advantage  in  the  transfer  of  his  surplus  product. 

Now,  the  "token"  has  performed  a  business  func- 
tion for  the  farmer  and  tanner — these  two  settlers  of 
the  embryonic  State.  What  is  this  function?  Its 
nature  is  fourfold  and  is  thus  briefly  described : 

1st.  "It  is  a  medium  of  exchange  "  That  is,  it  has 
enabled  the  farmer  to  transfer  the  title  and  possession 
of  his  wheat  to  the  tanner.  For  without  the  token, 
the  transfer  would  not  have  been  consummated. 

2nd.  "It  is  a  measure  of  value."  For  through  its 
means  the  wheat  is  transferred.  The  "token"  is  re- 
ceived in  lieu  of  the  leather,  which  will  have  an  intrinsic 
value  or  use  for  harness.  Whatever  may  be  the  capac- 
ity of  the  leather  as  a  utility,  it  is  transferred  to  the 
"token."  The  latter  in  the  hands  of  the  farmer  be- 
comes the  representative  of  the  leather  that  is  to  be 
made,  and,  at  the  same  moment,  of  the  wheat  that  has 
been  delivered. 

If  the  "token"  were  not  the  measure  of  the  value  of 
the  wheat,  the  farmer  would  not  have  recived  it  and 
stripped  himself  of  his  product.  His  act  was  volun- 

13 


tary.  It  was  based  on  his  opinion  of  the  significance 
of  the  "token."  The  ''token"  standing  fer  the  leather, 
is  therefore  the  measure  of  the  value  of  the  wheat,  as 
determined  and  recognized  by  the  parties  to  the  trans- 
action. 

3rd.  "It  is  a  standard  by  which  a  future  obliga- 
tion is  determined."  In  the  illustration  used  above,  the 
leather  will  not  be  perfected  for  months.  The  tanner 
has  promised  that,  using  all  his  craft,  he  will  produce  a 
good  tanned  article  and  deliver  it  at  the  time  named. 
This  promise  is  made  to  the  farmer  and  in  considera- 
tion thereof  he  has  delivered  his  grain,  and  in  its  place 
holds  the  "token."  But  this  denotes  that  the  tanner 
must  do  something  to  the  green  skin.  His  skill  and 
labor  must  change  it  into  an  article  perfected  to  har- 
ness requirements.  This  skill  and  labor,  though  to  be 
applied  at  different  times,  have  been  sold  to  the  farmer. 
The  "token,"  then,  in  the  hands  of  the  latter,  stands  as 
the  contract  expressing  all  the  things  promised  by  the 
tanner.  In  consideration  of  the  immediate  use  and 
ownership  of  the  wheat,  he  has  agreed  to  do  a  future 
thing,  and  as  a  memento  of  that  solemn  engagement, 
he  has  deposited  this  symbol  or  pledge.  If  this  be  true, 
then  it  is  the  standard  by  which  his  obligation  is  meas- 
ured. 

4th.  "It  is  a  storehouse  of  accumulated  products." 
The  truth  of  this  is  exhibited  when  you  consider  that 
the  "token"  in  the  keeping  of  the  farmer  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  wheat,  just  delivered,  and  the  leather 
to  come,  and  of  everything  else  in  the  possession  of  any 
settler  already  produced  and  condensing  the  same 
labor  involved  in  either  of  those  designated  products. 
By  this  is  meant,  that  the  blacksmith  and  machinist 
would  willingly  part  ownership  with  any  of  their  sur- 
plus things  involving  a  like  period  of  time  in  labor,  and 
would  transfer  any  of  them  to  the  farmer  for  the 
"token,"  for  it  will  be  taken  for  anything  of  the  value 

14 


of  the  wheat  or  leather.  It  is  therefore  the  treasury  of 
so  much  wealth  already  in  existence. 

This  is  a  more  skeleton  of  the  argument,  relative  to 
the  nature  of  this  "token"  in  this  transaction.  If  it 
harmonizes  with  the  truth  for  these  four  men,  it  is  true 
then  for  all  men.  For  such  is  the  quality  of  truth,  that 
if  a  thing  is  good  or  right  for  a  few  persons,  then  it  is 
good  and  right  lor  millions  of  persons  similarly  circum- 
tanced. 

Truth  is  eternal  and  unchanging.  She  will  not  lead 
one  to  triumph  to-day  and  mystify  him  to  defeat  to- 
morrow. She  stands  erect,  calm,  brave  in  conscience, 
holding  the  sunlight  in  her  hands,  breaking  the  fetters 
of  slavery,  lifting  up  innocene,  suiting  error,  crowning 
Liberty.  When  weighed  in  the  scales  of  Logic  and 
tested  by  the  mathematics  of  Finance,  if  this  "token" 
has  these  four  assigned  functions,  then  it  is  money. 
Why?  For  the  reason  that  it  possesses  all  the  essen- 
tials ever  attributed  by  financiers  and  economists  to 
the  money,  known  among  nations. 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  in  its  article, 
"Money  says: 

"Some  writers  attribute  a  fourth  function  to  money,  inasmuch  as 
they  regard  it  as  being  a  means  of  easily  storing  up  value.  Doubt- 
less it  does  supply  this  need,  which  is  a  specially  pressing  one  in  early 
civilizations,  owing  to  the  insecurity  that  then  exists,  but  with  the 
progress  of  settled  government  the  need  becomes  less  extreme.  Other 
forms  of  investment  grow  up,  and  the  habit  of  hoarding  away 
money  becomes  unusual.  It  is  therefore  better  to  regard  the  func- 
tions of  money  as  being  only  three  in  number,  viz;  to  furnish  ( 1 )  the 
common  medium  by  which  exchanges  are  rendered  possible,  (2)  the 
common  measure  by  which  the  comparative  value  of  those  exchanges 
are  estimated,  and  (3)  the  standard  by  which  future  obligations  are 
determined." 

Appleton's  Encyclopaedia  says : 

"Anything  which  freelf  circulates  from  hand  to  hand,  as  a  com- 
mon acceptable  medium  of  exchange  in  any  country,  is  in  such  coin- 
try  money,  even  though  it  ceases  to  be  such,  or  to  possess  any  value 
in  passing  into  another  country.  In  a  word,  an  article  is  determined 
to  be  money  by  reason  of  the  performance  by  it  of  certain  functions, 
without  regard  to  its  form  or  substance.'' 

15 


Bastiat,  the  French  Economist,  says : 

"You  have  a  crown  piece.  What  does  it  mean  in  your  hands?  It 
you  can  read  with  the  eye  of  the  mind  the  inscription  it  bears  you 
can  distinctly  see  these  words:  'Pay  to  the  bearer  a  service  equiva- 
lent to  that  which  he  has  rendered  to  society.  Value  received. and 
stated,  proved  and  measured  by  that  which  is'on  me.'  " 

Aristotle   proclaimed    to    the    Greeks   twenty-two 
hundred  years  ago : 

"Money  by  itself  *  *  *  *  has  value  only  by  law,  and  not  by 
nature;  so  that  a  change  of  convention  between  those  who  use  it  is 
sufficient  to  deprive  it  of  all  its  value  and  powerto  satisfy  our  wants. 

"But  with  regard  to  a  future  exchange  (if  we  want  nothing  at 
present)  money  is,  as  it  were,  our  security  that  it  may  take  place 
when  we  do  want  something." 

The  profoundest  logician  of  modern  times,  John 
Stuart  Mill,  says : 

"The  pounds  or  shillings  which  a  person  receives  are  a  sort  of 
ticket  or  order  which  he  can  present  for  payment  at  any  shop  he 
pleases,  and  which  entitle  him  to  receive  a  certain  value  of  an}-  com- 
modity that  he  makes  choice." 

Prof.  Francis  A.   Walker,   sayg  of  pebbles,  beads, 
shells,  feathers,  etc. : 

"They  were  good  money,  though  serving  no  purpose  but  orna- 
ment or  decoration.  They  were  desired  by  the  community  in  gen- 
eral; men  would  give  for  them  the  fruits  of  their  labor,  knowing  that 
•with  them  they  could  obtain  most  conveniently  in  time,  in  form,  and 
in  amount,  the  fruits  of  the  labors  of  others." 

Senator  Jones,  in  May,  1890,  said: 

"The  money  of  a  country  is  that  thing,  whatever  it  may  be, 
which  is  commonly  accepted  in  exchange  for  labor  or  property  and 
in  payment  of  debts,  whether  so  accepted  by  force  of  law  or  by  uni- 
versal consent.  Its  value  does  not  arise  from  the  intrinsic  qualities 
which  the  material  of  which  it  is  made  may  possess,  but  depends  en- 
tirely upon  the  extrinsic  qualities  which  law  or  general  consent  may 
confer. 

"Money  is  of  transcendent  importance  to  civilization.  It  is  the 
physical  agency  to  which  society  has  assigned  the  function  of  meas- 
uring all  equities,  and  it  is  the  sole  agency  upon  which  that  incom- 
parable function  has  been  conferred  It  is  in  terms  of  money  that 
society  computes  the  material  value  of  all  human  sacrifice,  alike  the 
highest  effort  of  genius  and  the  daily  toil  and  sweat  of  the  millions 
who  labor." 

McCulloch,  in  his  edition,  Adam  Smith's  ''Wealth 
of  Nations,"  says: 

16 


"Money  is  not  a  mere  commodity;  it  is  also  the  standard  or 
measure  by  which  to  estimate  and  compare  the  value  of  every  thing 
else  that  is  bought  and  sold,  and  if  it  be,  as  it  undoubtedly  is,  the 
duty  of  Government  to  adopt  every  practicable  means  for  rendering 
all  foot-rules  of  the  same  length,  and  all  bushels  of  the  same  capacity, 
it  is  still  more  incumbent  upon  it  to  omit  nothing  that  may  serve  to 
render  money,  or  the  measure  of  value,  a  measure  which  is  undoubt- 
edly of  the  greatest  importance,  uniform  or  steady  in  its  value." 

To  this  Senator  Jones  adds : 

"In  its  ultimate  analysis  money  is  the  yard-stick,  the  bushel  and 
the  pound-weight  of  commerce.  When  you  shrink  the  value  of 
money,  and  so  increase  the  measuring  power  of  the  dollar,  you 
lengthen  the  yard-stick,  enlarge  the  specific  gravity  of  the  pound  and 
the  cubical  contents  of  the  bushel  in  violation  of  all  equities." 

These  authorities  sustain  the  proposition  that  the 
"token",  passed  by  the  tanner  to  the  farmer,  has  all  the 
qualities  ever  attributed  by  any  thinker  to  money. 
Among  things  equal  in  uses  and  alike  in  character, 
there  is  a  perfect  similitude — a  practical  identity.  This 
"token"  is  therefore  money.  If  so,  then  it  is  demon- 
strated that  money  need  not  possess  an  intrinsic  value. 
It  must  follow  that  if  money  does  not  need  to  have  an 
intrinsic  value,  then  it  ought  not  to  have  it.  This  is 
manifest,  because  when  an  article  used  as  money,  has 
any  function  or  use  outside  the  money  character,  then 
there  comes  in  an  extrinsic  attribute  as  a  factor  to  af- 
fect the  value.  Money  is  a  mere  measure.  Its  su- 
premest  quality  is  certainty.  It  cannot  have  this  cer- 
tainity  when  it  has  a  commodity  value.  It  is  like  mak- 
ing the  yard-stick  depend  for  its  length  upon  the  tide  or 
rain  or  sunshine,  or  the  quantity  of  the  wheat  crop. 
These  two  cases  will  exemplify  the  point.  If  wool  is 
plentiful  in  Australia,  then  the  bushel  in  this  country 
shall  be  enlarged  so  that  the  producer  shall  bring  more 
grain  to  fill  his  contract.  If  the  iron  mines  of  Missouri 
yield  abundantly,  then  the  number  of  ounces  in  a 
pound  shall  be  lessened  throughout  this  nation,  not- 
withstanding the  effect  is,  that  all  buyers  having  con- 
tracts based  on  the  old  number  will  thus  be  defrauded 
and  be  compelled  to  accept  a  less  quantity  than  that 

17 


for  which  they  bargained.  Laws  thus  changing  the 
yard-stick,  or  bushel  or  pound,  would  and  do  involve 
absurd  consequences.  But  effects,  a  million  times  in- 
tensified, are  linked  with  our  practice  of  having  a 
money  with  an  intrinsic  or  commodity  value.  Then, 
gold  and  silver,  being  admitted  commodities  and  hav- 
ing commercial  uses,  are  not  fitted  for  money. 

They  should  be  abolished  as  such  for  these  three 
reasons.  They  maybe  denominated  the  ECONOMIC,  the 
LEGAL,  and  the  POLITICAL. 


FIRST.— ECONOMIC  :  Use  is  the  sole  and  supreme 
test  of  value.  A  thing  is  valuable  when  it  has  capacity 
to  satisfy  some  human  want.  When  the  want  is  gone, 
then  you  cast  aside  the  instrument  of  its  satisfaction. 
All  implements  fashioned  by  man  are  estimated  by  their 
power  to  meet  some  special  requirement.  In  certain 
conditions  a  thing  may  have  unmeasureable  value, 
then  by  a  mutation  of  environment,  may  become 
worthless.  Thus,  the  pack-saddle  is  superseded  by  the 
cart,  it  by  the  wagon,  and  it  by  the  steamboat  or  loco- 
motive. These  last  cumbersome  instruments  will  soon 
surrender  to  electrical  appliances  and  air-boats.  The 
reaping-hook  lost  its  potency  in  contest  with  the 
scythe.  The  latter  yielded  the  palm  to  the  header. 
The  kindergarten  "blocks"  give  place  to  mental  and 
spiritual  conceptions. 

This  principle  runs  through  all  human  wants.  The 
demonstration  comes,  therefore,  that  the  potentiality 
and  desirability  of  anything  and  everything  and  all 
things  rests  upon  their  ready,  easy  and  efficient  uses  to 
an  end. 

But  it  is  already  demonstrated  that  all  the  func- 
tions of  gold  and  silver  as  money,  have  been  and  can  be 
perfectly  performed  by  a  "token"  adopted  by  common 
consent  or  created  by  law — itself  being  the  most  em- 
is 


phatic  embodiment  of  consent.  Therefore  all  labor  be- 
stowed in  obtaining  HARD  money,  is  labor  lost  to 
humanity  as  a  unit.  This  is  not  disproved  nor  contra- 
dicted by  the  fact  that  the  work  done  in  mining,  mint- 
ing, etc.,  benefits  the  worker.  It  is  so  admitted,  but  it 
is  contended  that  this  result  is  too  narrow,  too  con- 
tracted and  special  to  economically  justif}r  its  continu- 
ance as  a  national  policy.  That  a  particular  benefit 
accrues  to  individuals  does  not  prevent  the  law  forbid- 
ding its  enjoymt-nt.  The  artisan  who  shapes  burglary 
tools,  reaps  his  living  from  their  sale.  The  anarchist 
bomb  manufacturer  supplies  his  needs  by  his  craft. 
The  chemist,  mastering  the  dynamic  force  of  a  poison, 
so  as  to  compound  death  in  his  potion,  must  live,  and 
so  braves  the  rigors  of  the  statute.  Here,  then,  is  a 
personal  benefit  to  each  and  his  dependents.  But  does 
the  law  consider  this?  If  the  State  or  Nation  could  be 
so  estopped,  the  criminal  code  would  be  abrogated. 
Through  its  police  power  the  government  controls  or 
forbids  many  kinds  of  labor,  although  often  innocent 
and  supporting  its  doer. 

This  argument  is  more  vividly  presented  if  the 
waste  of  energy  be  contemplated.  If  this  State  at  an 
expense  of  a  thousand  dollars  a  mile  could,  efficiently, 
for  commerce,  clear  and  dredge  the  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  rivers,  would  it  be  sane  to  spend  a  hun- 
dred times  as  much?  If  the  nation  could  build  its  ships 
for  a  million  apiece,  could  or  would  the  public  justify 
the  extravagance  of  ten  millions  for  each?  If  a  Trans- 
continental Governmental  Railway  from  San  Francisco 
to  New  York  could  be  built  and  equipped  for  $30,000 
per  mile,  would  the  tax-payer  thank  Congress  for  mak- 
ing the  appropriation  run  to  $150,000?  No.  Why? 
Because  the  burden  to  the  people  is  greater  than  neces- 
sary to  the  purpose  in  view.  But  why  should  this 
principle  be  disregarded  in  selecting  a  material  to  use 
for  money?  A  certain  end  is  sought.  It  may  be  at- 

19 


tained  in  an  easier  way  and  with  less  labor  by  discard- 
ing gold  and  silver  as  money. 

For  while  labor  is  individual,  yet  in  economic  prob- 
lems, it  is  the  aggregated  labor  of  all  the  people  that  is 
considered.  It  is  surely  apparent  that  a  medium  for 
pecuniary  purposes  ma}^  be  created  by  the  people, 
which  does  not  cost  so  much  labor-force  as  the  metals. 
Its  quality  as  a  measure  is  its  supreme  and  only  power. 
A  money  created  by  law  and  having  no  intrinsic  or 
commodity  potency,  is  safe  for  all  daily  uses.  There- 
fore, gold  and  silver,  being  commodities,  should  be 
abandoned  on  account  of  their  "dearness,"  which  is 
synonymous  with  'lack  of  safety."  Reason  commands 
that  there  should  be  adopted  that  medium  having  all 
money  functions,  which  medium  entails  in  its  creation 
the  least  work  and  in  its  circulation  the  minimum  of 
trouble,  and  carries  in  itself  the  guaranty  of  safety. 
While  money  yields  a  benefit  to  the  individual,  it  has  at 
all  times  been  conceded  that  the  issuance  of  it  is  one  of 
the  most  commanding  attributes  of  sovereignty,  keep- 
ing in  view  the  security  of  its  citizens.  Therefore,  our 
People  in  their  majesty  alone  should  create  it. 

For  the  sake  of  economy,  they  should  make  it  out 
of  something  costing  themselves,  as  a  unit,  the  least 
waste  of  energy  and  from  something  having,  when 
thus  used,  a  value  for  no  other  purpose.  That  is  to 
say,  if  our  people  made  their  own  money  out  of  paper — 
stamped  with  their  sovereign  will — they,  for  instance, 
would  save  to  themselves  the  difference  between  the 
toil  requisite  to  the  minting  of  Thirty-five  Hundred 
Millions  in  currency  and  the  toil  demanded  in  digging 
and  coining  the  same  sum  in  gold  and  silver,  counting 
for  each  dollar  in  the  latter  one  day's  work.  The 
' 'plant,"  skill,  etc.,  for  the  issuance  of  the  currency 
would  not  exceed  an  amount  represented  by  one  or 
two  hundred  thousand  day's  employment.  But  in  the 
metallic  money  would  be  embodied  the  soul-deadening 

20 


blows,  and  crystallized  the  hot  lava-like  tears  of  thirty- 
five  hundred  million  davs  of  hard  toil.  If  this  vast 
force,  wasted,  misused,  agonized  away  in  desperation, 
were  turned  to  real  industry,  in  procuring  food,  cloth- 
ing and  homes,  fire,  medicine  and  education,  the  hag- 
gard hand  ot  want  would  be  withdrawn,  the  piteous 
cry  for  work  and  bread  would  no  longer  load  the  air 
with  the  lamentations  of  the  *  'Inferno."  The  mind  is 
staggered  in  contemplation  of  this  stupendous  miscal- 
culation. 

As  there  are  about  t \velve  million  voting  citizens,  il 
this  gigantic  job  of  mining  and  minting  that  amount  of 
metallic  money  were  equally  apportioned  to  each  one, 
he  would  be  compelled  to  sweat  for  about  three  hun- 
dred days  to  fill  his  allotment.  The  sum  used  in  this 
comparison  represents  a  per  capita  of  fifty  dollars  to 
seventy  millions  of  people.  It  disregards  our  poverty, 
as  exhibited  in  our  National  mintage  for  a  hundred 
years— $2,063,000,000— and  sets  a  figure  commen- 
surate with  the  needs  of  an  increased  population.  The 
United  States  have  produced  since  1848,  $1,870,000,- 
000  in  gold  and  $1,072,000,000  silver,  aggregating 
$2,943,000,000.  According  to  the  oracles  of  the  gold 
standard,  each  dollar  of  this  vast  sum  represents  a 
day's  work,  and  is  thus  stored  up  wealth.  If  this  effort 
had  been  applied  by  the  rules  of  economic  Truth,  would 
this  country  present,  as  the  tragedy  of  this  century,  the 
crowning  of  a  few  millionaires,  while  at  their  chariot 
wheels  straggle  an  army  of  tramps,  ragged,  heart- 
broken and  without  hope? 

To  gather  this  pile  of  metal  required  more  work 
than  it  cost  to  win  the  grandeur  of  peace  at  the  close  of 
the  Rebellion,  for  on  July  1,  1866  our  debt  run  to  the 
highest,  $2,773,000,000. 

The  war  was  a  necessity.  Black  slavery  died — the 
Union  lived.  The  debt  was  justified.  But  the  white 
slavery,  that  has  groaned  to  death  for  this  money, 

21 


gold  and  silver,  was  self-imposed.  It  is  a  monument 
reared  to  financial  error,  devoted  to  private  greed  and 
dedicated  to  National  sin.  The  present  financial  sys- 
tem requires  that  all  the  voters  in  this  country,  even  if 
gold  and  silver  mines  were  open  for  use,  should  con- 
tinously  toil  for  one  year  to  produce  what  might  be  ob- 
tained for  perhaps  one-twenty-thousandth  part  of  the 
same  effort.  Is  this  in  harmony  with  our  civilization? 

Have  not  all  the  erudition  of  science,  all  the  tri- 
umphs of  invention,  all  the  skill  of  manual  craft  been 
concentrated  for  centuries  IN  ONE  NEVER-ENDING  WORK 
OF  MAKING  THINGS  CHEAP?  For  the  whole  of  our  era, 
man  has  been  struggling  to  master  nature,  so  as  to 
make  his  products  with  the  least  labor.  Here  lies  the 
ambition  of  the  trader — here  is  realized  the  skill  of  the 
inventor. 

A  "cheap  coat"  does  not  signify  a  "cheap  man," 
but  it  is  a  monument,  attesting  the  sublime  economic 
truth,  that  man  has  further  triumphed  over  the  forces 
of  Nature,  and  with  smaller  effort  appropriated  to  him- 
self her  benefactions,  leaving  him  more  time  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  his  moral  and  mental  faculties.  This  is  the 
dream  for  whose  realization  the  philanthropist  has  as- 
pired, the  poet  touched  his  harp,  the  pulpit  zealot 
pointed  to  in  his  enthusiasm,  and  the  legislator  pro- 
claimed his  code.  If  for  all  these  weary  ages,  this 
"cheapening  process"  in  the  creation  and  distribution 
of  products  has  been  the  distinguishing  trait  of  our  civ- 
ilization, by  what  right  is  made  or  justified  an  excep- 
tion in  money,  the  universal  measure  of  all  equities  and 
all  wealth? 

SECOND — LEGAL  :  The  Second  reason  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  metallic  money  is,  that  their  adoption  as  such  is 
a  vicious  governmental  discrimination  in  favor  of  a 
private  industry.  The  National  Constitution,  as  to 
Congress,  is  silent  as  to  what  may  be  the  materials  for 

22 


money,  not  naming  either  paper,  gold  or  silver,  al- 
though confining  State  moneys  to  the  two  latter.  But 
this  silence  is  significant.  The  three  kinds  were  then 
and  had  been  in  use,  and  were  so  to  the  general  know- 
ledge of  all  members  of  the  community.  Hence,  as  the 
new  Government  was  formed  with  powers  limited  by 
the  organic  Act,  the  fact  that  the  Constitution  ^eft  to 
Congress  full  freedom  to  select  and  issue  money,  shows 
that  gold  and  silver  are  not  the  sole  materials,  out  of 
whose  mercurial,  elusive  and  fluctuating  qualities  were 
to  be  made  the  constant,  fixed  and  unalterable  meas- 
ures of  value  for  all  things.  Since  history  showed  that 
many  substances  had  been  used  for  money,  and  since 
the  Constitution  selected  no  substances,  designating 
them  therefor,  it  must  be  and  is  the  logic  of  the  position 
that  the  Constitution  never  designed  that  Congress 
should  be  limited  to  a  particular  material.  For,  by  so 
limiting  Congress,  the  inevitable  result  would  be  for 
our  legislation,  in  making  the  selection,  to  run  into  dis- 
crimination. But  this  is  not  tolerated — nay,  it  is  for- 
bidden. For,  while  the  Constitution  is  reticent,  the 
Preamble  thereto  is  the  sun,  in  whose  light  is  revealed 
the  purposes  of  the  Government. 

It  says:  "We,  the  People  of  the  United  States,  in 
order  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  establish  justice,  in- 
sure domestic  tranquility,  provide  for  the  common  de- 
fence, promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  bless- 
ings of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,  do  or- 
dain and  establish  this  Constitution,  for  the  United 
States  of  America." 

Here,  on  evolving  from  the  Confederation  "a  more 
perfect  union,"  there  were  five  distinct  ends  in  view,  to 
be  accomplished  by  the  law :  Justice  should  be  equal 
to  all,  none  above  authority — none  too  obscure  to  be 
noticed.  Peace  should  hold  over  every  one  her  spear 
and  shield.  The  humble  should  stand  protected  by  the 
majesty  of  the  many.  The  welfare  of  the  entire  people 

23 


was  the  supreme  test  of  each  and  every  public  act. 
Liberty  was  not  to  be  an  idealized  abstraction — a 
dream  for  poet  or  model  for  sculptor — but  it  was  to  be 
a  divine  reality,  sacred  in  every  home,  a  presence  stand- 
ing by  each  citizen  to  guard  him  from  danger  and  to 
lead  him  to  happiness. 

But  none  of  these  specified  purposes  could  be  at- 
tained if  there  were  not  an  honest  equality  in  the  con- 
ception and  spirit  of  the  Law  and  its  execution.  It 
would  be  abhorrent  to  all  the  canons  of  construction 
to  claim  that  a  public  act  intentionally  extended  a 
privilege  to  one,  denying  it  to  another  alike  circum- 
stanced. The  selection  of  gold  and  silver,  declaring 
them  sacred  for  money  uses,  is  to  antagonize  the 
principle  just  enunciated.  For  it  is  within  common 
knowledge  that  the  mining  of  gold  and  silver  is  a  mere 
private  industry,  conducted  for  individual  profit  and 
held  in  personal  ownership.  All  mines  are  private 
property  in  the  same  sense  that  tools,  cattle,  railroads, 
banks  and  lands  are.  They  are  subject  to  sales,  taxes, 
liens,  judgments,  succession  and  wills  and  have  no  ex- 
emption or  rights  not  conferred  on  all  other  property 
existing  in  private  ownership.  The  Government  works 
no  mines,  and  until  recently  sold  them  with  the  land 
bought  as  homesteads,  pre-emptions,  etc.,  disregarding 
all  their  existing  mineral  value.  Even  where  mines  are 
known  to  exist,  the  United  States  will  issue  patents 
therefor.  These  facts  show  that  mines  are  not 
National,  but  purely  private  concerns. 

The  next  fact  for  consideration  in  this  argument,  is 
that  the  Constitution,  Art.  1,  Sec.  8,  confers  on  Con- 
gress the  right  and  duty  "To  coin  money,  regulate  the 
value  thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin,  and  fix  the  standard 
of  weights  and  measures;"  forbidding  in  Art.  9,  the 
States  to  "coin  money,"  or  to  make  anything  but  gold 
and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts.  These 
two  limitations  on  the  States  are  very  significant,  and 

24 


will  hereafter  be  considered.  Under  this  authority  to 
"coin  money,"  the  United  States  have  established  mints 
and  forbidding  the  States  and  individuals  to  do  like- 
wise, they  have  always  exercised  the  august  and  sov- 
ereign power  of  issuing  money.  To  get  it  an  owner 
takes  his  bullion,  produced  in  private  ownership,  to  a 
Mint.  On  paying  charges,  it  is  coined  for  and  issued  to 
him.  By  this  act  a  legal  decree  is  impressed  on  it,  con- 
verting it  from  a  mere  commodity  to  a  general  debt 
solvent.  That  is  to  say,  by  carrying  on  its  face  the 
sovereign  expressed  Will  of  the  People,  it  is  no  longer 
bullion,  left  to  the  hazard  of  competition  and  declen- 
sion in  value  by  use. 

It  came  to  the  Mint  a  commodity,  like  wool,  cotton, 
grain  or  iron.  Up  to  that  time  its  value  was  deter- 
mined by  supply  and  demand,  extending  over  the  coun- 
try and  the  world.  Then  it  had  no  sanctity — no  holy 
national  chrism  had  washed  its  sin-dross  away — no 
magic  for  debt-cleansing  lay  within  it.  It  was  merely 
a  dull  metal — a  product  of  the  earth — a  thing  of  trade. 
It  had  no  quality  or  character  as  a  measure  of  all  val- 
ues. It  was  a  metal  then;  it  is  a  coin  now — it  was  a 
commodity  then;  it  is  now  a  talisman,  by  which  all 
human  products  are  listed  and  weighed,  measured  and 
priced  for  the  world. 

What  has  wrought  this  change?  Why,  the  com- 
mand of  the  Government.  But  what  is  its  effect?  It 
necessarily  is  that  the  Government  has,  by  its  almight- 
iness,  given  to  the  product  of  a  distinct  class  of  citizens 
— miners — a  certain  and  absolute  value,  and  so  declared 
to  the  world;  forbidden  its  own  citizens  to  dispute  that 
valuation,  and  has  forced  them  to  accept  it  in  satisfac- 
tion of  the  obligations  due  them.  This  is  gross  dis- 
crimination. It  does  not  extend  these  weighty  priv- 
ileges to  the  other  products  of  its  citizens.  It  leaves 
them  to  the  LIFE  AND  DEATH— HEAVEN  AND  HELL  strug- 
gle of  competition  at  home  and  abroad. 

25 


Excluding  Tariff  effects  from  our  consideration,  it 
leaves  ALL  OTHER  THINGS  UNTOUCHED.  It  says  to  the 
farmer,  whose  wheat  has  fallen  from  $1.31  per  bushel 
in  1873  to  32  cents  in  1893— "Go,  compete  in  the  Lon- 
don market  with  the  lowest  priced  labor — the  Indian 
fellah  and  the  Russian  peasant."  It  says  to  the 
planter,  whose  cotton  in  the  same  time  has  fallen  from 
18  cents  to  6  cents  per  pound:  "Grapple  with  India, 
Egypt,  Smyrna  and  Brazil  for  your  prices."  It  says  to 
the  herder:  "There  are  Australia  and  South  America 
ready  in  hides,  wools  and  meats  to  undersell  you  at 
home.  Go,  enter  the  arena — your  overthrow  is  none  of 
my  concern."  It  says  to  the  manufacturer:  "Tramp 
the  oceans  and  win  your  market  from  free  England, 
cheap  India,  thrifty  France,  scientific  Germany  and  im- 
itative China."  It  says  to  the  laborer :  "Soothe  your 
hungry  babe  and  kiss  your  tearful  wife,  then  turn  to 
the  world  for  the  sale  of  your  body  and  brain.  Into 
your  grave  this  Government  casts  no  accasia — with  up- 
lifted finger,  emblematic  of  your  immortality." 

Is  not  this  selection  of  the  metals  for  money  then  full 
of  discrimination?  On  the  view  here  advanced,  the 
criticism  may  be  presented  that  the  metals  have  for 
centuries  been  used  for  money  and  were  so  used  when 
this  Nation  established  its  Constitution  and  adopted 
its  fiscal  policies,  and  that  it  is  therefore  consistent 
with  its  genius  for  these  metals  to  receive  this  disting- 
uished approval,  and  that  any  change  is  forbidden  by 
wisdom.  The  age  or  aristocracy,  the  universality  or 
alleged  morality  of  a  thing  is  no  evidence  that  it  is 
right.  Scan  the  ages  for  change  in  thoughes  and  acts. 

The  Egyptians  once  worshipped  Cats  and  Onions 
as  divine.  Into  a  wilderness,  because  they  would  be  a 
burden,  the  Greeks  threw  their  sick  and  deformed  chil- 
dren. By  the  appearance  of  the  entrails  of  sacrificed 
birds,  the  Romans  determined  for  war  or  peace.  The 
Peruvians  adored  the  Sun  as  a  God.  For  centuries  the 

26 


Chinese  believed  the  world  as  created  and  resting  on 
the  back  of  a  turtle.  On  a  high  altar  before  the  multi- 
tude, the  Aztec  priests  annually  cut  out  the  heart  of  a 
youth  as  a  propitiation  for  sin.  The  Church  in  the  six- 
teenth century  pronounced  this  earth  FLAT.  English 
freemen  within  lour  hundred  years  inflicted  the  death 
penalty  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  different  kinds  of 
crimes.  The  Puritans  signalized  their  idea  of  freedom 
by  burning  witches  for  their  opinions;  and  their  Blue 
Law  neighbors  made  it  a  crime  for  a  loving  mother  to 
kiss  her  innocent  babe  on  Sunday.  Science,  through  its 
chosen  apostle,  a  Boston  professor,  in  a  printed  book, 
proclaimed  it  impossible  to  run  a  steamboat,  and 
Fulton  was  crowded  with  ridicule.  Morse,  standing  in 
Washington,  prayed  for  aid  to  thrill  the  world  with 
the  first  electric  message,  "What  hath  God  Wrought." 
Though  Congress  granted  him  $40,000,  it  was  with 
doubt  as  to  the  possibility  of  the  invention.  Slavery 
was  expressly  recognized  in  the  Constitution  and  in 
many  of  the  laws  of  this  country.  It  was  intrenched  in 
the  public  conscience,  upheld  by  the  pulpit  and  declared 
right  by  economics.  Although  maintained  March  6, 
1857,  by  the  majesty  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision,  ren- 
dered by  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  it  was  on  April  9, 
1865,  cut  from  the  Nation's  heart  at  Appomatox,  the 
victor's  sword  recarving  the  declaration,  "That  all 
men  are  created  equal." 

These  acts,  opinions,  customs  and  policies  were  the 
expressions  of  the  highest  culture  and  purest  morality 
of  their  several  centuries.  Although  hoary  with  age, 
they  were  abandoned  or  destroyed  by  the  omnipotent 
powers  of  Truth,  ever  struggling  to  emancipate  the 
body,  to  unchain  the  mind  of  man.  A  few  disciples 
saw  the  real  errors  and,  "trumpet-tongued,"  fearlessly 
fought  for  their  abolition.  So  in  this  struggle,  the  sun- 
light of  freedom  has  already  touched  the  morning  hori- 
zon and  cheered  the  weary  watchers,  \vhose  visions 

27 


have  caught  glimpses  of  the  coming  industrial  equality. 

Now,  while  the  question,  as  to  whether  or  not  the 
use  of  gold  and  silver  as  money  is  a  discrimination,  has 
not  been  determined  by  the  highest  court,  yet  the  prin- 
ciple against  discrimination  has  been  announced. 

It  is  found  in  Loan  Association  vs.  Topeka,  20  Wal- 
lace's Report,  page  655,  decided  Feb.  1,  1875,  by  the 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court.  The  case  involved  these  facts  : 

Under  Kansas  State  laws,  the  city  of  Topeka  issued 
and  donated  one  hundred  $1,000  bonds  to  a  company 
to  aid  it  in  there  establishing  bridge  shops.  The  com- 
pany sold  the  bonds  and  began  operations.  The  city, 
from  its  funds  raised  by  taxation,  paid  one  year's  inter- 
est on  them.  The  plaintiff  in  good  faith  and  for  value, 
bought  the  bonds,  and  afterwards  sued  the  city  to 
recover  interest  due.  The  Circut  Court  decided  in  favor 
of  the  city,  holding  the  statute  unconstitutional.  On 
appeal,  it  was  conceded  that  the  State  could  not  enact 
the  laws,  unless  it  could  confer  on  Topeka  the  power  to 
tax  for  their  payment.  Therefore  the  purpose  of  taxa- 
tion became  the  central  question. 

Justice  Miller  in  the  opinion,  in  part,  said:  "The 
power  to  tax  is  therefore  the  strongest  oi  all  the  powers 
of  the  government,  reaching  directly  or  indirectly  to 
all  classes  of  the  people.  It  was  said  by  Chief  Justice 
Marshall  in  the  case  of  McCulloch  vs.  Md.,  4  Wheat., 
431,  that  the  power  to  tax  is  the  power  to  destroy.  A 
striking  instance  of  the  truth  of  the  proposition  is  seen 
in  the  fact  that  the  existing  tax  of  ten  per  cent  imposed 
by  the  United  States  on  the  circulation  of  all  other 
banks  than  the  National  Banks,  drove  out  of  existence 
every  State  bank  of  circulation  within  a  year  or  two 
after  its  passage.  This  power  can  as  readily  be  employed 
against  one  class  of  individuals  and  in  favor  of  another, 
so  as  to  ruin  the  one  class  and  give  unlimited  wealth 
and  prosperity  to  the  other,  if  there  is  no  implied  limit- 
ation of  the  uses  for  which  the  power  may  be  exercised. 

28 


"To  lay  with  one  hand,  the  power  of  the  govern- 
ment on  the  property  of  the  citizen,  and  with  the  other 
to  bestow  it  upon  favored  individuals  to  aid  private 
enterprises  and  build  up  private  fortunes,  is  none  the 
less  robbery  because  it  is  done  under  the  forms  of  law 
and  is  called  taxation.  This  is  not  legislation.  It  is  a 

decree  under  legislative  forms." 

*********** 

"But  in  the  case  before  us,  in  which  the  towns  are 
authorized  to  contribute  aid  by  way  of  taxation  to  any 
class  of  manufacturers,  there  is  no  difficulty  in  holding 
that  this  is  not  such  a  public  purpose  as  we  have  been 
considering.  If  it  be  said  that  a  benefit  results  to  the 
local  public  of  a  town  by  establishing  manufactures,  the 
same  may  be  said  of  any  other  business  or  pursuit 
which  employs  capital  or  labor.  The  merchant,  the 
mechanic,  the  inn-keeper,  the  banker,  the  builder,  the 
steamboat  owner,  are  equally  promoters  of  the  public 
good,  and  equally  deserving  the  aid  of  the  citizens  by 
forced  contributions.  No  line  can  be  drawn  in  favor  of 
the  manufacturer  which  would  not  open  the  coffers  of 
the  public  treasury  to  the  importunities  of  two-thirds 
of  the  business  men  of  the  city  or  town." 

The  Court  of  Maine  forbade,  (60  Me.  124)  where 
the  Town  of  Jay  proposed  to  loan  $10,000  credit  to  a 
proposing  Mill  erector. 

In  the  fire  of  1872,  the  legislature  passed  a  law  for 
Boston  to  loan  $20,000,000  to  lot  owners  whose  build- 
ings had  been  burned.  It  was  held  by  the  Court  of  that 
State  (111  Mass.  454)  that  it  was  a  discrimination 
and  not  valid  as  a  taxing  power. 

To  aid  Jefferson  Liberal  Institute  a  certain  town 
was  authorized  by  a  statute.  But  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Wisconsin  (24  Wis.  330)  declared  it  invalid,  not- 
withstanding it  was  to  aid  a  school  of  learning. 

The  power  to  tax  is  the  most  potent  of  all  the 
attributes  of  any  government  and  is  its  heart  and  brain. 

29 


Now,  then,  if  in  using  it,  discrimination  in  the  burdens 
it  imposes  destroys  its  validity,  what  can  be  said  to 
justify  the  government's  favors  to  one  class  of  producers 
against  all  other  classes?  The  principle  that  sustains 
this  Topeka  case  and  the  philosophy  that  sanctions  the 
anathema  of  a  special  or  class  taxation  as  "a  fraud," 
are  the  very  foundations  of  our  governmental  struct- 
ure, whose  four  corner  stones  are  Equality,  Justice, 
Truth  and  Fraternity.  Will  Equality  tolerate  discrim- 
ination? Will  Justice  dispense  partial  favors?  Will 
Truth  stand  sponsor  where  favoritism  is  baptized? 
Will  Fraternity  smile  where  vice  is  married  to  greed? 

Instead  of  the  domination  of  discrimination, 
wrong,  ignorance  and  hatred,  as  shown  in  metal 
money,  the  true  patriot  must  ever  pray  that 

Equality  shall  bruise  the  Serpent's  head, 

Justice  shall  hold  up  the  hands  of  praying  labor, 

Truth  shall  make  all  men  free, 

Fraternity  shall  never  dip  a  brother's  coat  in  blood. 

Equality,  Justice,  Truth  and  Fraternity  forbid 

That  one  shall  eat  another's  bread. 


THIRD— POLITICAL  :  The  third  reason  for  the  aboli- 
tion of  gold  and  silver  as  money  is  political.  This  em- 
braces necessarily  much  that  has  been  presented  under 
the  two  foregoing  heads;  but  it  also  in  its  realm  in- 
cludes many  other  considerations.  Some  may  now  be 
discussed  : 

A.  The  chief  function  of  money  is  as  a  ' 'measure" 
for  human  effort.  Therefore  where  "men  most  do  con- 
gregate" the  money  should  be  abundant.  Yet  this  is 
not  the  fact.  Why?  Because  the  supply  is  limited. 
Before  the  supply  can  be  had  you  must  find  the  mines, 
profitable  for  development.  But  these  are  often  very 
difficult  to  discover,  and  when  found  are  generally  situ- 
ated in  the  hearts  of  mountains,  or  desert  plains,  both 
long  distances  from  settlements.  Therefore  the  labor 
of  securing  and  distributing  the  "measure"  is  great  and 

30 


beyond  necessity.  The  men  employed  in  this  mining 
and  its  accessories  could  be  more  advantageously 
used  for  the  well-being  of  society,  in  this,  that  their 
energy  could  be  turned  to  genuine  productive  utilities 
in  making  food,  clothing,  medicine  and  education  for 
the  citizenship. 

B.  The  present  supply  of  the  metals  is  not  ade- 
quate to  the  needs  of  society.  This  is  shown  in  that  at 
no  time  in  the  history  of  this  government  has  the  pro- 
duction of  metallic  money  kept  pace  with  the  increase 
of  population.  This  is  demonstrated  by  official  re- 
ports. 

The  combined  product,  in  round  numbers,  of  gold 
and  silver,  from 

1850  to  1860  was $556,000,000 

1860  to  1870    "     555,000,000 

1870  to  1880    "     747,000,000 

1880  to  1890    "     735,000,000 

for  1890          "    103,000,000 

"  1891          "     109,000,000 

"  1892          M     108,000,000 


Total $2,913,000,000 

Counting  $37,000,000  for  the  period  from  1793  to 
1840,  and  inserting  $50,000,000  as  the  official  amount 
for  the  decade  to  1850,  the  grand  agregate  for  gold 
and  silver  produced  in  this  country  since  the  beginning 
is  about  $3,000,000,000.  This  far  exceeds  the  mintage 
in  that  time. 

From  1793  to  1892  the  gold  coinage  was 

$1,596,009,143 

Silver  coinage,  same  time  was...       663,906,471 
Nickle  and  copper  coinage    "  ...          24,908,422 


Total $2,284,824,036 

Now,  in  round  numbers,  the  population  has  stood 
as  follows : 


31 


In  1810 7,000,000 

"  1820 10,000,000 

"  1830 13,000,000 

"  1840 17,000,000 

"  1850 23,000,000 

"  1860 32,000,000 

"  1870 38,000,000 

"  1880.. 50,000,000 

11  1890 62,000,000 

The  rate  of  increase  has  been  about  30  per  cent  for 
each  decade.  Therefore,  disregarding  all  the  time  prior 
to  the  discovery  of  the  Pacific  Coast  mines,  but  com- 
mencing at  an  era  when  their  output  became  marvel- 
ous and  established,  the  amounts  of  money  requisite  to 
keep  in  march  with  increasing  population,  counting  the 
same  percentage  for  each  decade,  would  have  been  as 
follows:  In  1860  there  were  $556,000,000.  Add  thirty 
per  cent  thereto,  and  in  1870  there  should  have  been 
$722,000,000.  With  percentage  added  thereto,  in 
1880  there  should  have  been  $938,000,000.  In  1890 
there  should  have  been  $1,220,000,000.  For  the  years 
1890-91-92,  add  percentage  and  the  result  is  $349,- 
000,000.  This  would  make  a  grand  total  from  1850 
to  1893  of  $3,785,000,000,000.  But  the  real  amount 
produced  is  not  over  $3,000,000,000.  Therefore  the 
deficiency  is  the  difference. 

This  has  come,  notwithstanding  that  everybody  has 
agonized  and  prayed,  toiled  and  cursed,  to  discover 
these  metals.  All  the  subtle  arts  of  chemistry,  all  the 
stupendous  energies  of  mechanics,  the  dynamite  blast 
and  diamond  drill,  the  mule-pack  and  railway  train, 
were  all  applied  to  the  developing  of  our  mines.  In 
this  mad  race  for  money  the  laborer  touched  elbows 
with  the  Senator,  poverty  jostled  capital — scarce  not- 
ing the  comedies  that  marked  the  course,  and  indiffer- 
ent to  its  tragedies,  ever  seeking  the  goal.  It  is  ap- 
parent, then,  that  all  the  civilization  of  the  United 

32 


States  cannot  create  metallic  money  as  fast  as  the  race 
grows  herein. 

C.  The  arts  use  a  large  part  of  the  annual  yield  of 
these  metals.  In  1889  the  Director  of  the  United 
States  Mint  placed  the  sum  so  used  in  this  country  at 
$25,464,000,  out  of  a  production  oi  $97,446,464,  s~tat- 
in<^  the  annual  average  was  greater,  and  he  claimed 
that  about  one-half  of  the  world's  production  was  thus 
consumed.  Dr.  Soetbeer  places  the  withdrawls  for 
other  than  money  purposes  at  least  one-third  of  the  en- 
tire mining  product  of  the  earth.  The  appropriation 
for  dentistry,  jewelry,  plate,  watches,  gilding,  etc.,  goes 
on  here  continually,  and  will  continue  with  the  growth 
of  the  people.  The  stocks  of  metals  lor  money  thus 
grow  less  Irom  this  encroachment,  and  from  losses  in 
fires,  shipwrecks,  accidents,  abrasion,  etc.,  and  from 
the  constantly  worked  out  and  failing  mines.  For  it  is 
a  ^ettl«  d  historical  fact  that  the  world's  product  is 
gradually  tailing  off  each  ye  <r.  In  the  1860  decade, 
gold  ran" to  $137,000,000."  In  the  1890  decade  it  ran 
to  about  $107,000,000,  while  silver  mining  is  now 
practically  abandoned,  bv  the  general  demonetization 
of  the  metal.  This  failure  in  supply  can  hardly  be 
helped.  The  mining  fields  have  been  scraped  bv  the 
prospector  and  weighed  by  science,  till  Speculation  has 
left  but  two  spots  untouched  by  the  avaricious  pick — 
the  heart  of  Africa  and  the  North  regions. 

If  humanitv  must  perish  without  gold  and  silver, 
then  let  lervent  praycss  rise,  like  holy  incense,  that  our 
patriotic  metal  \\orshipers  will  soon  invade  the  pene- 
tralia of  the  tropic  jungle  and  tie  the  miner's  pan  to  the 
icy  pole.  Aye,  let  the  prayer  be  deep,  that  their  search 
may  be  measured  lil-e  "The  wounded  siiake  ihat  slowly 
drags  its  length  al  •iiu,"  and  enduring  as  the  heavens, 
"With  cycle  and  epicycle  scribbled  o'er,1'  and  patient  as 
the  martyr,  "Wrapped  in  his  pale  robe  of  fire."  It  is 
true  that  the  untrammeled  manners  of  the  Northmen 

33 


and  the  rude  virtues  oi  the  Equatorians  may  suffer  on 
contact  with  the  triune  characteristics  of  our  civiliza- 
tion— liquor,  competition  and  private  banks— yet  the 
world  will  be  compensated  in  seeing  its  foremost  Fi- 
nanciers at  the  foot  of  their  hard  idol,  placing  their  un- 
selfishness on  the  Altar  of  Public  Good.  What  matter 
if  the  secrets  of  the  Borealis  are  opened  to  the  vulgar 
gaze — silver  has  been  found  there  and  the  race  has  been 
saved !  What  difference  if  the  mysteries  of  the  fierce 
Amazons  are  seen — gold  has  been  discovered  in  their 
domains  and  humanity  has  been  redeemed  ! 

D.  If  these  metals  are"  to  be  continued  as  dedicated 
to  money  purposes,  then  their  application  for  other 
uses  should  be  prohibited  by  law.  But  this  has  never 
been  done,  and  opposition  would  be  aroused  to  any 
limitation  imposed  by  statute.  Yet  its  prohibition  is 
strictly  logical,  as  hereinbefore  demonstrated.  If  for- 
bidden for  all  other  uses,  then  the  Arts  would  suffer 
and  the  imperious  command  of  fashion  would  be  dis- 
obeyed. The  great  American  laborer  may  well  stagger 
or  die  for  the  want  of  these  metals  for  money  to  aid  in 
his  exchanges;  but  that  is  immaterial  so  long  as  the 
epicurean  table  of  plutocrac}'  sparkles  with  the  solid 
silver  plate  and  dazzles  with  the  chased  golden  service. 
The  beautiful  and  esthetic  dude  may  make  the  street 
resplendent  with  his  silver  headed  cane  and  ogle  beauty 
with  his  gold-rimmed  glasses,  and  be  entirely  uncon- 
scious that  his  vain-aping  royalties  are  starving  the 
needle-girl  to  death,  because  she  can  find  no  medium  for 
the  exchange  of  her  product.  Forgetting  that  all  pure 
worship  is  spiritual,  the  Church  has  sought  to  appease 
heaven  by  consecrated  metal  vessels,  and  thereby  in  the 
name  of  morality  violated  the  great  law  of  Finance, 
that  has  devoted  these  substances  to  money.  With  a 
desire  for  vulgar  ^display,  the  Saloon  has  trespassed 
against  the  same  economic  statute.  The  Plutocrat, 
Dude,  Church  and  Saloon  have  all  thus  contributed  to 

34 


"contraction,"  and  thereby  thrown  obstacles  to  the 
easy  exchange  of  labor's  products. 

E.  Metallic  money  is  most  peculiarly  liable  to  de- 
terioration by  use  or  crime.    It  is  a  conceded  fact  that 
coins  suffer  a  large  diminution  by  daily  wear,   soon 
ceasing    to    be    exchangeable.    This    WEAR,    the   last 
holder  who  presents  it  for  re-minting,  must  bear.    In- 
variably the  government  that  issues  them  refuses  to  re- 
deem them  at  the  STAMP  value  but  at  their  weight 
value.    This  wear  is  estimated  at  a  certain  per  cent  per 
year.     Then,  the  diminution  of  coins  by  crime  is  great. 
Coins  are  "bored,"   "sweated,"   "gouged,"   "rimmed," 
"clipped,"   "cut,"    and   "bathed    in  acid,"   and  so  on 
through  the  vernacular  of  the  counterfeiter.    Science 
and  finance  both  are  compelled  to  admit  that  counter- 
feiting is  much  more  efficiently  done,  with  less  chance  of 
discovery,  where  coins  instead  of  paper  are  subjected  to 
the  skilled  manipulation  of  the  professional. 

F.  Where  coins  are  lost  or  destroyed,  their  replac- 
ing is  impossible,  save  at  the  expenditure  of  immense 
labor.    As  tha.  mines  become  scarcer  or  exhausted,  this 
labor  is  proportionately  incrt-ased.    To  show  that  this 
is  important,  it  is  but  necessary  to  remember  the  fact 
that  at  the  full,  splendid  acme  of  Roman  grandeur,  two 
centuries  before  our  era,  there  were  in  use  $1,800,000,- 
000  of  gold  and  silver.     This  in  seventeen  centuries  had 
dwindled  to  $300,000,000  or  less.     With  this  declen- 
sion, Liberty  had  grown  palsied  and  Civilization  was 
tottering,  when  this  hemisphere  revealed  her  treasures. 

In  1888  a  statistician,  McCarthy,  says  on  the  same 
point :  "All  the  gold  and  silver  in  the  world,  known  to  . 
have  been  mined  previous  to  1492,  amounted  to  $8, 691,- 
374,000;  yet  the  existence  of  only  $170,000,000  could 
be  traced.  In  1809  there  was  estimated  to  be  $1,843,- 
000,000  of  gold  and  silver  in  circulation,  although 
America  alone  had  added  (between  1492  and  1809) 
$6,000,000,000  to  the  world's  store  of  the  precious 

35 


metals.  The  grand  total  of  gold  and  silver  produced 
in  the  world,  down  to  June  1884,  is  estimated  to  be 
$23,14-8,762,501,  of  which  $12,709,425,520  was  gold, 
and  $10,439,336,981  was  silver.  The  total  amount  of 
gold  and  silver  (in  coin  and  bullion)  in  circulation  at 
this  time  in  the  world  does  not  exceed  $7,600,000,000." 
To  show  the  world's  production,  Spofford,  Librarian 
of  Congress,  in  1881  made  this  statement  of  the  precious 
metals  estimated  to  have  been  obtained  from  the  sur- 
face and  mines  of  the  earth  from  the  earliest  times  to 
the  close  of  1879 : 


GOLD. 

SILVER. 

TOTAL. 

B.  C. 

$1 

,415 

,000,000 

$2 

,913,000.000 

$4,328 

,000,000 

A.  D. 

to 

1492 

..  3 

,842 

,374,000 

521,  OnO,  000 

4,363 

,374.000 

1493 

to 

1842 

..  2 

,726 

,000,000 

5 

,800,000,000 

8,526 

,000,000 

184-3 

to 

1879 

..  5 

.085 

,000,000 

2 

,081,000,000 

8,176 

,000,000 

Grand  Total,  $14,063,000,000  $11,315,000,000  $25,383,374,000 

Now  mark  the  contrast !     The  Director  of  the  Mint 
for  1892-3  approximated  the  world's  money 

Gold $3,582,605,000 

Silver 4,04^,700,000 


Total $7,635,305,000 

What  has  become  of  these  seventeen  and  a  half  billions? 
They  represent  labor  forever  lost  to  mankind.  The 
loss  of  metallic  money,  then,  is  important,  stupendous, 
overwhelming,  irreparable.  It  is  one  that  the  whole 
civilized  world  has  fought  to  avert.  It  has  never  parted 
with  one  dollar  without  a  desperate  struggle.  Every 
lost  coin  has  been  lamented  in  tears,  and  its  epitaph 
penned  in  blood. 

G.  In  the  National  Constitution,  in  Article  8,  it  is 
declared  :  "The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  *  *  * 
coin  money,  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
coin,  and  fix  the  standard  of  weights  and  measures." 
It  is  under  these  simple  words  that  our  ill-fated  financial 
system  is  created.  The  incorporation  of  gold  and  silver 
therein  as  factors  is  impolitic  for  the  reason  that  their 

36 


commodity  value  makes  them  fluctuating  as  measures, 
In  all  ancient  lands  there  were  standards  fixed  for 
weights  and  measures.  The  English  is  more  or  less  the 
outgrowth  of  all  these.  Or,  if  not,  it  is  the  arbitrary 
order  of  the  Sovereign,  as  shown  in  the  traditi  >n  that 
the  foot  rule  was  the  length  of  royalty  from  heel  to  toe. 
The -Metric  system,  established  in  1799,  is  a  most 
accurate  and  scientific  measurement  of  the  quadrant  of 
the  earth  passing  through  Pans.  The  English  and 
French  are  the  principal  standards  of  the  world,  and 
are  legalized  in  this  country.  These  are  carefully  kept 
in  the  vaults  at  Washington  and  by  law  enter  into  all 
affairs  of  business. 

Now,  suppose  our  government  should  abandon  its 
rights  and  duties  and  should  invest  private  individuals 
wit  lithe  discretion  to  change  the  length  of  the  yard,  the 
heft  of  the  pound  and  the  capacity  of  the  bushel,  as 
suited  caprice  or  profit.  Would  this  be  tolerated?  Is 
it  more  dangerous  to  grant  this  extraordinary  plenti- 
tude  of  power  to  modify  the  weights  and  measures, 
than  to  allow  the  same  necessary  and  illogical  uncer- 
tainty to  exist  in  money — itself  the  omnipotent  measure 
of  all  things?  The  speculator  contracts  to  buy  land  by 
the  }^ard,  grain  by  the  bushel  and  meat  by  the  pound. 
Then,  to  increase  his  profits,  he  has  legislation  change 
the  standards.  Here  you  say,  "No."  But  he  gains  the 
same  end  by  the  sliding  scale  of  metallic  money. 

Congress  has  the  power  to  establish  a  national 
currency.  The  language  of  the  Constitution  is  "shall." 
Should  it  use  its  discretion  or  leave  the  uncer'ainty  to 
continue?  Clearly  it  should  act.  The  rule  is  absolutely 
settled  by  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  that  whenever  it  is 
to  the  benefit  of  an  individual  or  society  that  a  discre- 
tion should  be  exercised,  th^n  the  "may"  or  "shall"  of 
the  law  is  mandatory,  and  the  authority  must  be  used 
to  consumate  the  intended  beneficence.  It  is  therefore 
the  duty  of  Congress,  heretofore  neglected,  to  eliminate 

37 


gold  and  silver  from  our  money  sources,  because  as 
long  as  they  are  used,  possessing  also  a  commercial 
value,  so  long  will  the  financial  equilibrium  be  unsteady, 
up  and  down,  carrying  death  and  ruin  or  fame  and 
wealth  at  each  oscillation. 

From  July  1776  to  this  date,  the  Nation  has  succes- 
sively trod  through  the  poisoned  deserts  of  "inflation" 
and  "contraction."  Along  the  track  of  financial  disas- 
ter the  shining  skeletons  of  ruin  glisten.  Grim  and 
heroic  was  the  Corsican's  retreat.  It  was  marked  by 
the  song  of  many  a  demented  soldier,  dying  amid  the 
snow — the  wounded  torn  by  hungry  wolf,  the  living  left 
in  chaos  and  rout.  But  that  was  over  in  one  campaign, 
and  sinks  to  a  dwarf,  compared  to  the  ruins  of  our 
appalling  march. 

The  Spirit  of  the  ten  or  more  panics,  that  like 
Tornadoes,  have  swept  over  this  country,  seems  the 
embodiment  of  the  verse : 

"I  am  the  rider  of  the  Wind,' 
The  Stirrer  of  the  Storm, 
The  hurricane  I  left  behind, 

Is  yet  with  lightning  warm." 

In  all  the  crushing,  tumbling  fortunes  of  Congres- 
sional battles,  did  you  ever  hear  an  v  uncertainty  getting 
into  "pounds,"  and  "bushels"  and  "yards?"  Why  have 
not  campaign  "foemen  wrorthy  of  each  other's  steel" 
met  "in  battle  array"  over  the  ever-changing  pound? 
Why  have  not  Congressional  candidates  been  solemn 
and  ponderously  wise  in  pledging  undying  loyalty  to 
the  bushel? 

It  was  to  enlarge  that  cubic  measure,  that  a  "pious 
disciple"  of  Protection  "iried  the  fat"  out  of  its  recipi- 
ents and  in  consideration  of  $300,000  contributed  for 
the  conversion  of  infidel  voters  received  a  Cabinet  seat. 
The  muse  of  history  is  modestly  silent  in  her  penning  of 
this  fact. 

Why  has  not  some    Presidential    candidate   been 

38 


elected  on  a  platform  pledging  a  stable  relation  between 
the  }rard,  36  inches  long,  and  the  metre,  39.37  inches 
long,  and  then,  when  entrusted  with  power,  forgotten 
his  platform  and  used  his  executive  prerogatives  to 
force  Congress  to  adopt  a  single  standard?  It  is  chron- 
icled on  the  historic  tablet  in  letters  of  gold  that  a 
President  onCe  gave  $1,000  to  a  Virginian  Fund  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  changing  the  length  of  the  yard-stick, 
and  for  the  like  object  promised  an  embassy  if  the  recip- 
ient would  donate  $50,000  to  a  National  Committee. 
They  might  have  been  engraved  on  silver,  but  the  same 
autocracy,  with  an  'anchor  to  wind  ward,  "had  decreed 
that  silver  was  too  "debased,"  "cheap,"  and  "lacking 
intrinsic  value,"  for  such  a  holy  use. 

The  simple  truth  is,  these  contests  as  to  pounds, 
bushels  and  yards  have  not  happened,  because  the  fixing 
of  weights  and  measures  is  purely  arbitrary  and  a 
mere  decree  of  authority,  and  they  have  no  intrinsic  or 
commercial  value.  Gold  and  silver  have  such  values, 
and  therefore,  as  money,  have  furnished  ambition  a 
ladder  to  climb  up  to  ugly  eminence,  and  cupidity  a 
club  to  beat  defenseless  labor  into  subjection,  through 
controlling  the  volume  of  the  circulating  media. 

H.  The  most  important  political  reason  for  the 
non-use  of  the  metals  as  money  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  system  being  without  a  philosophic  basis,  and 
resting  solely  on  accident,  enables  a  few  people  to 
control  the  laws  and  labor  of  the  country  by  contract- 
ing or  expanding  the  volume  of  the  specie  in  use.  The 
determination  of  the  amount  of  metal  money  held  by 
one  people  at  one  time,  rests  upon  the  accident  of  paying 
mines  within  their  borders,  or  upon  their  exchange  of 
their  products.  Hence,  in  the  nature  of  things,  there 
can  be  no  stable  basis  for  the  amount  of  money.  Nor 
can  the  government  ever  have  any  control  over  the 
volume.  This  is  left  entirely  to  private  enterprise.  The 
nation  is  powerless  to  meet  an  emergency.  It  may 

39 


make  guns  and  sacrifice  lives  for  defense,  but  it  must 
not  invade  the  sacred  temple  of  Finance.  That  has 
been  dedicated  to  the  Magicians.  It  cannot  pay  its 
debts  to  its  honest,  patient,  trusting  creditors,  because 
it  cannot  get  the  coin.  They  mu*t  wait  till  some  mine 
is  discovered  and  its  product  coined.  The  government 
does  not  own  any  mines,  and  cannot  compel  its  citizens 
to  be  prospectors  for  or  workers  of  them. 

It  has  granted  bounties  to  the  rollicking  hunter  for 
killing  the  dangerous  '"gopher,"  to  the  sugar  grower  for 
his  luscious  "sorghum,"  to  the  bravelv  chivalric  manu- 
facturer for  his  "notions,"  to  the  sedate  inventor,  in  the 
patent  of  his  machine  for  esthetic  "clothes-pins,"  to  the 
scientist,  in  his  copyright  on  the  erudite  book,  "Are 
fleas  immortal?"  and  offered  a  fortune  for  a  "tin  mine." 
These  are  fit  subjects  for  statecraft.  But  legislation  as 
to  the  per  capita  of  money,  is  an  undreamed  heresy.  It 
is  contrary  to  the  orthodoxy  of  economy  for  the  gov- 
ernment to  deal  with  or  consider  this  question.  The 
amount  of  money  must  be  left  to  "chance." 

In  the  meantime,  Labor  mu^t  rest  content  with  the 
declaration  that  Providence,  decreeing  that  nought  else 
can  be  money,  has  wisely  distributed  gold  and  silver  all 
over  the  earth,  and  so  concealed  them  that  no  "divining 
rod"  shall  ever  discover  too  much  of  them.  In  the 
open  sunlight,  Divinity  may  paint  the  lily  or  feed  the 
sparrow,  but  he  hides  the  precious  metals  in  the  deeps, 
that  man  may  discipline  his  soul  in  poverty,  ere  the 
enjoyments  of  plenteous  comfort  are  at  this  command. 
This  creed  is  kin  to  the  theology  that  reveled  in  "infant 
damnation,"  or  believed  in  the  sweet  ministrations  of 
"torture"  as  efficacious  to  righteousness  This  impu- 
tation to  an  all-wise  and  merciful  Father  is  an  error, 
because  it  ignores  the  entirely  human  origin  of  money. 

That  origin  plutocracy  endeavors  to  conceal.  The 
purpose  is  t(>  keep  the  citizenship  in  ignorance.  This  is 
done  by  surrounafr^  it  with  solemn  mystery,  forbidding 

40 


curiosity  to  any  profane  eye.  The  people  are  taught 
from  every  financial  pulpit  in  the  land  that  a  special 
priesthood  is  dedicated  to  touching  the  Altar  of  public 
credit.  This  priestly  ministration  began  to  assume 
peculiar  importance  in  the  early  days  of  the  Rebellion. 
To  mee^t  the  stupendous  calls  of  the  war  money  was 
needed.  The  Banks  refused  to  respond.  It  may  be 
partly  attributed  to  greed,  but  mostly  to  the  lack  of 
coined  money. 

The  Government  called  into  activity  the  dormant 
creative  force  of  the  Constitation  and  issued  $60,000,- 
000 demand  notes,  and  finally  invested  them  with  legal 
tender  power.  Within  three  days  after  the  passage  in 
the  House  of  the  Bill  for  Greenbacks,  thirteen  bankers 
from  New  York,  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  met  in  Wash- 
ington city.  They  keenly  saw  the  potent  energy  thnt 
slept  in  that  despised  greenback,  and  with  a  wierd, 
witch-like  incantation  invoked  "spells"  to  make  that 
sleep  immortal.  They  called  to  them  all  the  beings — 

"Black  spirits  and  white, 
Blue  spirits  and  gfnV,'' 

that  obey  the  wand  of  special  privilege,  and  "about  the 
earth  in  forty  minutes"  went  thegirdle  of  their  influence. 
One  came  from  over  the  "vasty  deep."  In  1862,  Haz- 
zard,  a  London  banker,  came  from  England  to  thi& 
country  and  placed  himself  in  communication  with  the 
American  potentates  of  finance.  This  is  his  confidential 
circular  to  them : 

"Slavey  is  likely  to  be  abolished  by  the  war  power  and  chattel 
slavery  destroyed.  This.  I  and  my  European  friends  are  in  i'avor  of,, 
for  slavery  is  but  the  owning-  of  labor,  and  carries  with  it  thecarefof 
the  laborers;  while  the  European  plan,  led  on  by  England,  is  for  cap- 
ital to  control  labor  by  controlling  wages.  This  can  be  done  by 
controlling  the  money.  The  GREAT  DEBT  that  capitalists  will  see 
to  it  is  made  out  of  the  war,  must  be  used  as  a  measure  to  control  the 
volume  of  monev.  To  accomplish  this,  the  bonds  must  be  used  as  a 
banking  basis.  We  are  now  waiting  to  get  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  to  make  this  recommendation  to  Congress.  It  will  not  do 
to  allow  the  greenback,  as  it  is  called,  to  circulate  as  money  for  any 
length  of  time,  FOR  WE  CANNOT  CONTROL  THAT." 


Ransack  the  drama,  search  history,  exhaust  litera- 
ture, condense  oratory,  and  you  will  fail  to  find  148 
words,  containing  so  great  a  conspiracy  and  fraught 
with  such  dreadful  spoliation.  It  was  no  mean  concep- 
tion. It  embraced  the  earth.  It  brought  within  its 
awful  clutch  all  civilization.  It  had  been  said  that  the 
soil  of  England  was  too  holy  to  bear  the  tread  of  a 
slave.  Its  touch  emancipated  him  bv  the  genius  of  its 
free  institutions.  By  the  indomitable  pluck  of  a  free 
soldiery,  the  Ameiican  Slave  was  about  to  step  forth  to 
freedom.  This  the  circular  saw.  Indifferent  to  the 
immorality  of  slavery,  the  new  mastership  was  glad  to 
be  released-  from  its  care.  By  the  intuition  ol  their 
profit-gaining  souls,  they  wanted  no  ownership  of  man 
that  imposed  on  them  the  possibility  of  loss  by  death, 
accident  or  escape.  But  this  was  avoided  by  their  plan. 
The  slavery  was  to  continue,  but  for  euphony  it  was 
to  be  denominated  "wages."  Its  universality  was  to 
be  limited  only  by  the  race.  Beneath  the  tyranny  of 
this  system  all  labor  was  to  be  yoked  in  fellowship  with 
/poverty — chained  in  servitude.  Noconditionof  employ- 
ment was  to  escape  its  thraldom. 

The  old  grandmother,  seeking  consolation  in  her 
Bible,  while  resting  a  moment  from  her  toil,  the  rosy- 
lipped  youth,  running  his  errand,  the  healer  b}r  the  couch 
of  sickness,  the  lawyer,  pleading  for  injured  right,  the 
soldier,  by  the  sword  sustaining  the  law,  the  teacher, 
leading  childhood  to  knowledge,  the  tenant  farmer, 
staggering  under  his  debt,  the  laborer,  begging  for  a 
job,  the  widow,  with  her  un-coffined  dead,  must  all  feel 
the  thorns,  be  spit  on,  and  drag  their  crosses  on  to 
crucifixion.  Debt  is  the  name  of  the  new  master,  .and 
wages  are  the  bonds  of  his  captivity.  MONEY  is  THE 

LASH. 

To  get  a  clear  conception  of  the  magnitude  of  this 
scheme,  let  the  mind  grasp  the  thought,  that  there  are 
about  1,500,000,000  of  people  on  this  earth.  Ninety- 

42 


five  per  cent  of  these  are  either  directly  hired  or  in  an 
equivalent  condition.  These  are  all  to  pass  into  indus- 
trial subjugation.  By  getting  the  right  and  the  power 
to  name  the  amount  of  money  that  may  get  into  circu 
lation,  these  minority  masters  are  to  own  the  rest  of 
mankind.  America's  peril  was  the  deadly  moment  for 
her  patriot  bankers  to  Jorge  her  shackles.  Rent  by 
war,  trembling  from  her  shock  of  battle,  \vith  death  at 
every  home,  the  debt  must  be  made.  Let  freedom  die, 
leave  the  dead  unscpulchercd,  abandon  the  sick,  con- 
done treason,  but  the  debt  must  go  on,  grow,  expand, 
increase,  develope,  till  the  limit  of  their  security  is 
reached.  The  debt  is  the  new  lever  for  overturning  this 
people — the  sword  of  their  conquest.  The  Banks  must 
rest  on  this  adamantine  base.  Congress  must  legitima- 
tize the  crime  and  give  it  the  semblance  of  law.  Doubt- 
less the  angels,  that  watch  with  tender  solicitude  over 
human  sorrows,  must  have  wept  while  they  s^aw  the 
Treasurer  yield  to  their  waiting  and  grant  them  the 
"recommendation." 

But  so  omnipotent  is  Truth,  that  she  compelled 
Hazzard  to  surpass  his  preceding  brutal  frankness,  and 
to  crystalize  his  unvarnished  meaning  in  the  last  sen- 
tence: THE  GREENBACK  MUST  NOT  CIRCULATE.  "WE 
CANNOT  CONTROL  THAT."  That  is  to  say  i  The  metals 
have  commodity  values  and  their  supply  is  limited,  and 
hence  they  are  subject  to  our  will.  We  allow  them  to 
go  into  circulation,  and  *  'times  are  good."  That  means 
expansion.  We  have  now  made  our  trades  on  a  high 
market  and  turned  our  profits,  and  to  "squeeze stocks" 
it  is  now  our  dictate  to  hoard  this  money,  push  down 
prices  and  make  new  investments.  That  is  contraction. 
We  cannot  pursue  this  process  with  the  "greenback." 

Its  debt-paying  competency  is  determined  by  the 
law  of  its  creation.  Its  quantity  is  fixed  by  the  statute, 
to  be  expanded  in  an  emergency.  For  these  two  reasons 
— competency  and  quality — it  was  beyond  the  control 

43 


of  the  bankers.  Therefore  they  began  to  get  legisla- 
tion, limiting  its  usefulness  and  curtailing  its  powers. 

This  Circular  unified  the  Bankers,  photographed 
their  pathway  and  gave  them  a  shibboleth.  Their  first 
triumph  was  in  getting  all  future  greenbacks  bastard- 
ized. They  were,  when  issued,  discredited,  birth- 
marked,  dwarfed  and  lampooned  with  contempt.  They 
had  all  monev  functions  except  two — they  would  not 
pay  interest  to  the  bondholder,  nor  duties  on  imports. 

For  these  two  sanctified  purposes,  gold  was  sacred. 
It  was  too  cowardly  to  fight  for  Union  or  Liberty,  but 
it  was  brave  enough  to  come  out  when  with  salety  an 
immense  profit  could  be  realized.  Here,  then,  was  a 
market  for  this  evanescent  gold.  By  depreciating  the 
greenback,  caricaturing  it  as  a  "rag-baby,  "decrying  the 
public  faith,  declaring  there  was  national  bankruptcy, 
the  bankers  succeeded,  July  1864,  in  advancing  gold  to 
$2.85,  and  lowered  the  paper  currency  to  35  cents. 

That  is,  it  took  $285  in  currency  to  buy  $100  in 
gold,  or  $1.00  in  currencv  was  only  worth  35  cents  in 
gold.  While  this  process  was  unfolding,  their  plan  of 
action  was  simplicity  intensified.  The  interest  on  the 
National  bonds  must  be  pnid.  Coin  was  needed — it 
was  in  thi  ir  vaults.  It  must  be  bought  by  the  Treasury. 
They  traded  to  the  Government  their  gold  at  high  prices 
for  greenbacks  at  low  prices.  They  took  their  green- 
backs and  at  their  face  value  bought  bonds.  Their 
interest  matured  every  six  months.  So  the  game  with 
the  magnetic  dice  was  played  again. 

How  simple!  It  deserves  the  encomium  of  being 
"the  best  system  on  earth." 

With  solemn  music,  amid  an  awful  hush,  the  game 
was  played  with  the  same  beautiful,  trusting  simplicity, 
when  an  importer  wanted  to  pay  custom  duties.  He 
went  on  "change"  and  left  his  pound  of  flesh — green- 
backs— and  bought  the  beautiful  gold  and  paid  the 
Government  the  duty  on  the  imported  goods.  The 

44 


faithful  and  patriotic  Banker  took  the  "rags"  and 
bought  more  bonds.  He  was  ever  punctual  in  present- 
ing his  coupons  for  annual  interest,  and  always  claimed 
exemption  from  all  taxes. 

In  the  meantime,  under  the  hallowed  influence  of 
this  syndicate  of  philanthropists,  the  soldier  in  swamp, 
pit,  hospital  and  battle,  was  compelled  to  take  the 
depreciated  greenbacks  as  the  price  of  his  blood,  or  be 
branded  with  treason.  The  test  was  severe,  but  grand 
W«MS  his  endurance.  The  currcncv  might  be  poor,  but 
little  he  cared,  for  patriotism  was  a  holier  thing  in  his 
soul  than  interest.  The  *'Star<  and  Stripes" — to  him  a 
holv  symbol  of  the  national  life — must  float  again  in 
every  State,  and  every  acre  of  our  country  must  be  a  fit 
place  for  the  Altar  of  Liberty. 

With  the  Highlander,  well  might  he  crv — 

"Come  one,  come  all.  this  rock  shall  fly 
From  its  firm  base  as  soon  as  I." 

There  he  stood  for  four  years,  till  the  night  of  defeat 
closed,  and  the  morning  splendors  of  victory  broke. 
The  Banker,  in  his  solitude  wrapped,  sat  amid  his  bonds. 
The  Soldier,  in  his  vigils  engaged,  'mid  bullets  stood. 
Let  History  paint  the  two— one  sordid,  one  grand. 
Let  Drama  portray  the  two—  one  coward,  one  hero. 
Let  Sculpture  cut  the  two— one  traitor,  one  patriot. 

The  poet's  words, perhaps, came  to  the  soldier  amid 
Tiis  struggles,  showing  that  Truth  carries  her  vindica- 
tion : 

"  For  time  at  last  sets  all  thines  even — 
And  if  we  do  hut  wa^ch  the  hour. 
There  never  yet  was  human  power 
Which  could  evade  if  un forgiven , 
The  patient  search  and  vi^il  lonq- 
Of  him  who  treasures  up  a  wron.ij." 

With  the  inspiration  born  of  thisHazzard  Circular, 
the  Bankers  again  approached  Congress  lor  more  legis- 
lation. It  came  in  1863  in  the  National  Bank  svstem. 


Its  operation  is  not  mysterious.  By  the  two  limitations 
already  placed  on  the  greenback  in  the '  'exceptin  g  cl  ause" 
there  had  been  made  an  absolute  market  for  gold  and 
silver.  With  these,  their  owners  bought  greenbacks  at 
heavy  discount.  Then  with  them  at  their  face  value, 
they  purchased  government  bonds  bearing  interest  pay- 
able semi-annually  in  gold.  Now  the  new  Act  permitted 
them  to  deposit  these  bonds  in  the  U.  S.  Treasury  and 
in  their  lieu  the  National  Banks  could  issue  their  notes 
to  ninety  per  cent  of  the  deposit.  As  the  Statute  pro- 
hibited the  starting  of  a  bank  without  a  capital  of 
$50,000  at  least,  it  is  apparent  that  any  poor  man 
could  take  advantage  of  the  government's  generosity. 
By  the  above  means  a  Bank  would  proceed,  depending 
on  the  difference  between  gold  and  currency  about  as 
follows: 

With  $40,000  in  gold  they  would  buy  $100,000  in 
greenbacks  and  then  exchange  them  for  $100,000  U.  S. 
Bonds.  On  depositing  these  they  would  semi-annually 
draw  as  interest,  say  $6,000  in  gold,  escaping  all  taxes 
at  the  same  time.  This  is  fifteen  per  cent  on  the  original 
investment.  Then  the  confiding  and  indulgent  Govern- 
ment authorized  them  to  issue  in  the  name  of  the  Bank 
$90,000  in  notes  with  which  to  transact  business  and 
reap  interest  thereon.  This,  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent, 
would  make  $9,000— aggregating  $15,000  straight 
profit  on  a  $40,000  in  vestment,  being  37^  per  cent,  per 
annum.  They  had  actually  found  the  long-sought  secret 
of  the  alchemist.  They  had  poured  into  the  alembic 
$40,000  in  gold  and  by  the  magic  word  now  brought 
forth  $90,000  in  notes  and  $6,000  governmental  inter- 
est on  the  deposited  bonds,  and  $9,000  on  their  general 
banking  business,  making  $105, 000. 

This  will  explain  why  on  March  1,  1893,  there  were 
3759  National  Banks,  with  a  capital  of  $686,874,375, 
and  a  surplus  of  $245,714,438.  In  these  thirty  years, 
wherein  these  banks  had  expanded,  the  same  moral 


and  loving  government,  under  the  whip  of  the  money 
masters,  had  imposed  a  tax  on  the  farmers  and 
laborers  and  others,  on  a  list  of  4,200  articles  in  daily 
use,  and  reaching  the  appalling  average  of  45  per  cent. 
This,  when  applied,  means  that  to  support  his  family, 
out  of  every  $100  spent  the  citizen  has  to  pay  $45.00 
in  taxation. 

In  spite  of  the  shallow  hypocrisy  of  th*  foreigner 
paying  the  import  tax,  it  is  ultimately  borne  by  the  con- 
sumer. This  is  true  for  both  imported  and  domestic 
goods. 

To  illustrate  how  under  the  claim  of  protection  for 
labor,  the  Tariff  has  operated  to  the  advantage  of  the 
Money  Power,  this  quotation  will  suffice  in  part : 

"The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  preparing  his  annual  report  of 
1886,  applied  to  Worthington  C.'Ford,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Sta- 
tistics of  the  State  Department,  E  B.  Elliott,  the  United  States 
Government  Actuary,  and  Professor  Simon  Newcomb,  Superintendent 
of  the  Nautical  Almanac,  Navy  Department,  severally,  for  an  estimate 
of  the  number  of  persons  in  the  United  States  engaged  in  gainful 
occupations,  classified  as  those  who  cannot  be  subjected  to  foreign 
competition  and  those  who  can  in  part  be  subject  to  foreign  compe- 
tition. Each  of  these  statistical  experts  made  a  report.  Mr.  Ford 
stated  that  the  total  number  of  persons  engaged  in  gainful  occupations 
in  the  United  states,  according  to  the  census  of  1880  was  17,392,099, 
divided  as  follows.  Agriculture.  7,670,493  ;  Manufactures,  mechanics, 
and  mining,  3,837,112:  professional  and  personal,  4,074,238;  trade 
and  transportation,  1,810.256.  Setting  aside  the  last  two  classes  as 
not  being  subject  to  foreign  competition,  Mr.  Ford  arrived  at  the 
foil  owing  result: 
Population  of  the  United  States  in  gainful  occupations 

not  subject  to  cempetition, 16,564,914 

Population  of  the  United  States  in  gainful  occupations 

subject  to  competition 827,484 

the  percentage  being  4.7  per  cent. 

"  Mr  Elliott  by  a  different  process,  reached  the  conclusion  that  the 
number  of  persons  who  were  directly  subjected  in  part  to  foreign 
competition  was  825,000,  or  about  4%  per  cent. 

"Professor  Newcomb  reported  that  his  estimate  of  the  persons 
subject  to  foreign  competition  was  905,585,  or  5  2-10  per  cent  of  the 
industrial  population,  concluding  with  the  observation:  If  trade 
were  entirely  iree,  the  fraction  of  our  present  industrial  population 
injuriously  subject  to  foreign  competition  would  not  exceed  7  per 
cent.'  In  other  words,  93  per  cent  of  the  people  are  taxed  to  protect 
and  enrich  7  per  cent."— The  World  Almanac  1894,  p  969. 

—47— 


The  enormity  of  the  burden  imposed  on  labor  will 
further  appear  in  its  naked  hideousness  when  this  com- 
parison is  studied  :  In  1890  the  dutiable  imports  were 
$507,571,763.95  and  the  tax  collected  was  $225,317,- 
075.65.  This  is  an  average  of  44.4-1  per  cent.  There 
is  some  palliation  in  the  facts — the  government  got  the 
above  tax  money  and  at  the  same  time  permitted  im- 
portation of  free  goods  valued  at$266,103,047.87.  But 
in  the  same  year,  according  to  the  Census,  the  home 
manufactured  goods  were  valued  at  $9,500,000,000. 

Now,  casting  the  45  per  cent  on  this  total  product, 
and  the  stupendous  load  of  $4,275,000,000  was  meekly 
carried  by  the  laborer  and  consumer  of  this  country. 
This  sum,  or  its  approximation,  depending  on  the  annual 
product,  has  been  the  yearly  levied  tribute.  Under  the 
bayonet  of  necessity,  and  solaced  by  the  thought  of  per- 
fect freedom  from  "competition  with  the  pauper  labor 
of  Europe,  "the  exalted  American  Freeman  laid  it  down 
safely  within  the  vaults  of  the  money  power.  It  must 
nave  gone  there,  for  labor  is  in  dire  distress  and  all 
industry  is  paralyzed,  and  has  not  received  this  annual 
excess  of  sale  price  overthe  cost  of  production,  including 
therein  a  reasonable  profit.  This  excess  is  about  all 
profit,  for  the  difference  between  the  foreign  and  home 
cost  of  "necessities  "  is  infinitely  less  than  the  tax  rates. 
This  is  fully  understood  by  the  Money  Power. 

In  demonstration  of  this  wealth  trend  to  one  section, 
capsed  by  discriminntion  in  taxation,  interest  on  bonds, 
transportation  and  telegraph  monopoly,  trusts,  etc., 
the  following  figures  from  the  Census  of  1890  are  pre- 
sented:  States  of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  :— 

Total  (9)  Wealth  States- 
Area  square  miles 168,665 

Population  in  1880 14,507.407 

Population  in  1890 17,401,54-5 

Gain  in  population 2,894,138 

—48— 


Assessed  value  1880 $7,559,928,915 

Assessed  value  1890 $10,614,691,637 

Gain  in  wealth $3.054,762,722 

Paupers  in  Almshouses 31,143 

Convicts  in  Penitentiaries 14,477 

Prisoners  in  Jails 6,764 

Infants  in  Juvenile  Reformatories 7,388 

Total  United  States- 
Area  square  miles 2,954,450 

Population  1880 50,155,783 

Population  1890 62,560,416 

Gain  in  population 12,404,633 

Assessed  value  1880 $16,902,993,543 

Assessed  value  1890 $24,249,589,804 

Gain  in  wealth ': $7,346,596,261 

Paupers  in  Almshouses 73,045 

Convicts  in  Penitentiaries 45,233 

Prisoners  in  Jails 19,538 

Infants  in  luvenile  Reformatories 14,846 

To  the  economist  this  is  a  portentous  commentary, 
showing  dangerous  wealth  concentration.  To  the 
patriot  it  is  a  sad  testimonial  that  the  laws  have  dis- 
tributed the  benefits  and  burdens  without  equality,  as 
is  proved  when  the  Census  shows  that  the  average  daily 
pay  of  the  wage  earner  is  $1.15,  while  the  value  of  his 
daily  product  is  $10.50 — thus  leaving  for  capital  $9.35 
as  a  fund  for  cost  of  material  and  profit. 

The  above  table  shows :  In  comparison  with  the 
whole  of  the  United  States,  these  nine  states  have  one- 
seventeenth  of  the  area  and  27  per  cent  of  the  people. 
They  have  gained  nearly  one-half  of  the  wealth ,  and  have 
nearly  half  the  paupers,  one-third  the  convicts  and 
prisoners  and  one-half  the  Reformatory  Juveniles.  Here 
then  is  the  conclusive  test  of  a  malodorous  system — 
concentrated  wealth  and  disseminated  social  negligence. 

In  harmony  with  this  deduction,  Thomas  G.  Shear- 
man, in  The  Forum,  said  : 

''Let  us  inquire  whether  there  is  any  excessive  concentration  of 
wealth  going  on  in  the  United  States  of  America.  Leaving  mere 
clamor  and  unsupported  assertion  out  of  consideration  on  either  side, 
let  us  look  into  facts.  As  lately  as  1874  there  was  but  one  man  in 
this  country-  who  was  reputed  to  be  worth  more  than  $5,000,000; 
and  although  some  estimated  his  wealth  at  $20,000,000,  there  is  no 

—49— 


good  reason  for  believing  it  to  have  been  so  great.  At  the  smallest 
reasonable  estimate,  there  must  now  be  more  than  250  persons  in  this 
country  whose  wealth  averages  over  $20,000,000  for  each.  But  let 
us  call  the  number  only  200.  Income  tax  returns  show  that  the 
number  of  incomes,  when  arranged  in  large  classes,  multiplies  by  from 
three  to  five  fold  for  every  reduction  in  the  amount  of  one-half.  For 
extreme  caution,  however,  estimate  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
incomes  at  a  very  much  lower  rate  than  this.  At  this  reduced  rate, 
the  amount  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  persons  worth  over  $500,000 
each  in  the  United  States,  would  be  as  follows: 

200  persons  at  $20,000,000 $4,000,000,000 


400 
1,000 
2,500 
7,000 
20,000 


10,000,000 4,000,000,000 

5,000,000 5,000,000,000 

2,500,000 6,250,000,000 

1,000,000 7.000,000,000 

500,000 10,000,000.000 


31,100    '  $36,250,000,000 

This  estimate  is  far  below  the  actual  truth.  Yet,  even  with  this  basis, 
we  are  confronted  with  the  startling  result  that  31,100  persons  now 
possess  three-fifths  of  the  whole  national  wealth,  real  and  personal, 
according  to  the  highest  estimate ($60, 000, 000, 000)  which  any  one 
has  yet  ventured  to  make  of  the  aggregate  amount.  Nor  is  this 
conclusion  at  all  improbable.'' 

George  K.  Holmes,  U.  S.  Census  expert,  says : 

"  Seventy-one  per  cent  of  the  wealth  is  owned  by  nine  per  cenfof  the 
families ;  20  per  cent  of  the  wealth  is  owned  by  27  per  cent  of  the 
families,  and  9  per  cent  of  the  wealth  is  owned  by  64  per  cent  of  the 
families." 

To  add  to  this  picture,  a  clipping  from  the  San 
Francisco  Examiner  of  Feb.  10,  1894,  in  answer  to  an 
inquiry,  is  presented : 

"There  are  no  official  lists  of  millionaires.  The  following  is  the 
result  of  a  canvass  of  the  States  bv  the  New  York  Tribune  in  1892, 
giving  those  owning  a  million  or  more : 

STATES.  NUMBER.  STATES.  NUMBER. 

Alabama 10  New  Hampshire  ..'. 14 

Arkansas 6  New  Jersey 127 

California 162  New  Mexico 3 

Colorado 17  New  York 428 

Connecticut 79  North  Carolina 14 

Delaware 16  North  Dakota 1 

District  of  Columbia 31  Ohio 174 

Florida 6  Oregon.... 18 

Georgia 11  Pennsylvania 399 

Idaho 3  Rhode  Island 47 

Illinois 349  South  Carolina 10 

—50— 


Indiana 37        South  Dakota 0 

Iowa 28        Tennessee 25 

Kansas 11        Texas 55 

Kentucky 24        Utah 16 

Louisiana 35        Vermont 13 

Maine 17        Virginia 26 

Maryland 59        Washington 24 

Masssachusetts 259        West  Virginia 7 

Michigan 104        Wisconsin.. 64 

Minnesota 85        Wyoming 1 

Mississippi 2        New  York  City 1,275 

Missouri 85  , 

Montana 25  Total 4,204" 

Nebraska 15 

From  this  it  appears  that  for  the  same  fateful  nine 
States,  our  laws  have  created,  decorated  and  patented 
with  nobility,  2,658  millionaires,  leaving  for  the  honor 
and  delight  of  the  rest  of  the  nation  only  1546. 

As  if  Destiny  were  using  the  same  nine  States  for  a 
prophetic  warning,  the  Census  further  shows  that  in 
1880  they  had  958,772  farms  and  in  1890  905,958— a 
loss  of  53,389  or  5.57  per  cent.  Decay  of  agriculture, 
in  its  employing  less  hands,  is  a  sure  index  of  a  con- 
centrating wealth. 

Again,  as  distinctly  germain  to  the  subject 
of  wealth  concentration  in  these  nine  States  if 
you  bring  within  your  vision  the  Telegraph  System  of 
the  country,  you  will  find  its  actual  cost  approximates 
$25,000,000."  But  its  capitalization  is  $110,000,000. 
The  rates  thereon  for  public  service  are  so  apportioned 
that  they  yearly  become  at  least  twenty-five  per  cent 
on  the  real  investment.  Is  the  farmer  realizing  a  like 
percentage?  Is  the  mechanic  getting  rich  at  this  rate? 
This  Telegraph  System  is  another  traffic  that  the  Money 
Power  has  made  tributary  to  its  enrichment. 

Thelikepolicv  of  inflation  in  values  is  pursued  by  the 
same  power  as  to  the  railroads  of  the  country.  They  are 
capitalized  at  $10,000,000,000.  This  is  at  least  two 
and  a  half  times  more  than  their  cost.  But  the  trans- 
portation rates  are  based  on  the  "watered"  value. 

—51  — 


And  this  in  turn  becomes  an  immense  percentage  on  the 
actual  investment.  This  sum  ought  to  be  saved  to  the 
people  by  the  nationalization  of  these  great  carriers. 
These  Manufacturing,  Telegraph,  and  Railroad  ven- 
tures are  mere  feeders  to  the  Money  Power,  centered 
in  New  York  city  and  its  section  of  our  nation.  At  any 
rate  it  is  clear,  that  these  $4,275,000,000,  taxed  on 
home  industry — that  these  profits  on  Telegraph  and 
Telephone  appliances,  and  the  vast  incomes  of  the 
railroads,  never  went  to  the  Government,  else  on  Nov. 
1,  1893  it  wouldn't  have  been  in  debt  $1,549,556,- 
356.63,  and  it  would  never  have  paid  $2,733,000,000 
for  interest  to  its  bondholders  from  1861  to  1893, 
averaging  each  year  about  $82,000,000  -for  interest 
alone. 

This  annual  pilgrimage  to  the  East,  this  free  voter 
has  been  making  for  these  three  eventful  decades — 
always  returning  to  find  the  hydra  of  Tax  coiled  around 
everything  from  the  cradle  to  the  coffin — always  return- 
ing to  vsleep  beneath  the  roof  more  heavily  mortgaged, 
— ever  listening  for  the  sheriffs  hammer — ever  becom- 
ing more  familiar  with  the  multitudinous  tramp  and 
oftener  seeing  the  privileged  bondholder.  This  discrim- 
ination in  favor  of  the  Banker  and  Manufacturer  has 
nowhere  been  balanced  by  compensation  to  the  farmer 
and  laborer.  It  never  will  or  can  be  until  the  voter 
carries  his  conscience  and  intellect  and  freedom  into  his 
ballot. 

But  to  prevent  this  is  the  ambition  of  the  privilege 
holder.  Hence,  still  under  the  wizard  spell  of  the 
Hazzard  Circular,  the  National  Batik  sought  its  own 
perpetuation  and  labor's  thralldom,  when  it  sent  to 
the  other  banks  its  private  circular,  dated  Oct.  9, 1878. 

"DEAR  SIR: — It  is  advisable  to  do  all  in  your  power  to  sustain 
such  daily  and  prominent  weekly  newspapers,  especially  the  agri- 
cultural and  religious  press,  as  will  oppose  the  issuing  of  greenback 
paper  money,  and  that  you  withhold  patronage  or  favor  from  all 
applicants  who  are  not  willing  to  oppose  the  government  issue  ol 

—52— 


money.  Let  the  government  issue  the  coin  and  the  banks  issue  the 
paper  money  of  the  country,  for  then  we  can  better  protect  each 
other.  To  repeal  the  law  creating  national  banks ;  or  to  restore  to 
circulation  the.  government  issue  of  money,  will  be  to  provide  the 
people  with  money,  and  will  therefore  seriously  affect  your  individual 
profits  as  banker  and  lender.  See  your  member  of  Congress  at  once, 
and  engage  him  to  support  our  interests,  that  we  may  control  legis- 
lation. JAS.  BUELL, 
No.  147  Broadwa3r,  Room  4,  New  York.  Secretary." 

The  soul  of  this  is  laid  bare  when  it  says,  "to  restore 
to  circulation  the  government  issue  of  money  will  be  to 
provide  the  people  with  money."  That  is,  gold  and  sil- 
ver are  scarce  and  under  our  keeping.  But,  greenbacks 
are  beyond  our  grasp.  To  prevent  their  beneficence  we 
must  "control  legislation."  Alliances  and  Unions  are 
nefarious,  and  breeders  of  anarchy,  if  they  discuss  or 
combine  for  legislation  conducive  to  the  amelioration 
of  their  industrial  slavery.  But  it  is  transcendent 
patriotism  for  the  Banker  and  Manufacturer  to  coerce 
Congress  and  suborn  religion  to  moral  treason  to  its 
sublime  creed.  The  People  must  not  have  money, 
because  that  strikes  off  their  bonds,  makes  plenty  on 
hunger's  table,  clothes  shivering  childhood,  soothes 
dying  want,  moralizes  manhood,  retains  for  the  virgin 
her  purity  and  enobles  the  race.  This  must  not  be 
done.  If  so,  the  Throne  of  Mammon  will  tremble,  the 
reins  of  control  will  be  dropped.  Oh,  hated  Green- 
back ! — that  would  perform  miracles  for  the  people.  Oh, 
mighty  gold  !— that  has  done  prodigies  for  capital. 

Ah !  The  bitter  humiliation  that  burnt  the  lips  of 
Chase,  when  he  later  confessed  : 

"My  agency  in  procuring  the  passage  of  the  National  Bank  Act 
was  the  greatest  financial  mistake  of  my  life.  It  has  built  up  a 
monopoly  that  affects  every  interest  in  the  country.  It  should  be 
repealed.  But  before  this  can  be  accomplished,  the  People  will  be 
arrayed  on  one  side  and  the  Banks  on  the  other  in  a  contest  such  as 
we  have  never  seen  in  this  country." 

In  the  fascinating,  wonderful  valley  of  old,  the 
sorrow-laden  slave  in  bond  age  made  his  brick  and  toiled 
along  its  river  banks,  rearing  mausoleums  to  vulgar 

-53- 


greatness.  Ever  across  his  vision  flitted  freedom — ever 
over  his  shoulder  fell  the  lash.  Darker  grew  his  soul. 
Harder  grew  his  task.  Mud  and  straw  were  plenty,  and 
toil  would  make  the  required  number  of  bricks  each  day. 
But'remorseless  ran  the  order  for  each  to  gather  his  own 
straw  and  make  his  tale  as  before.  So  began  the 
tragedy  that  has  hung  on  human  lips  for  thirty-three 
centuries — the  master  perishing,  remembered  only  in 
monolith  and  hieroglyphic — the  slave  lived — founding 
kingdoms,  overturning  empires,  writing  all  succeeding 
history,  moulding  civilization  and  to-day  potentially 
incorporating  his  commandments  in  the  laws  of  all 
Christendom. 

Its  prophetic  meaning  reached  not  the  modern  task- 
masters. For,  not  content  with  increasing  the  power 
of  gold  and  silver,  through  the  "excepting  clause,"  and 
doubling  taxation  by  the  tariff  and  founding  their 
Bank  system,  they  soon  began  to  clamor  for  less  money. 
Deaf  to  patriotism,  heedless  of  economy,  and  sinning 
against  destiny,  Congress  listened  once  more  to  the 
syren's  voice  and  enacted  its  decree. 

On  April  12,  1866,  the  law  was  made  for  destroy- 
ing the  greenback.  This  law  commanded  the  Treasury, 
that  instead  of  re-issuing  greenbacks  and  other  paper 
currency,  it  should  burn  them  up  and  thus  take  them 
from  their  money  circulation.  When  the  law  was 
passed  the  U.  S.  paper  currency  of  all  kinds  was  $1,- 
732,811,195.  This  excludes  $185,000,000  National 
Bank  Notes  and  $60,000,000  State  Bank  Notes. 

The  contraction  may  be  thus  tabulated  : 

YEAR.  WITHDRAWN.  FAILURES.  Loss. 

1866  520       $  17,625,000 

1867  2,386         86,218,000 

1868  $473,000,000  2,608         63,774,000 

1869  500,000,000  2,799         75,054,900 

1870  67,000,000  3,551         88,242,000 

1871  35,000,000  2,915         85,250,000 

1872  12,000,000  4,069        121,058,000 

—54— 


1873  1,609,000  5,183  228,499,000 

1874  171,000,000  5,832  153,239,000 

1875  40,000,000  7,740  201,060,000 

1876  85,000,000  10,000  300,000,000 


Total,  $1,384,609,000  47,603  $1,422,019,900 

Here  is  a  period  of  profound  peace.  Wise  statecraft 
of  course  has  full  opportunity  for  action.  Therefore, 
the  law  is  the  quintescence  of  financial  prudence.  Good 
for  the  people  is  its  benign  touchstone.  Its  beneficence 
to  them  should  be  manifested  in  the  fact,  that  as  the 
contraction  goes  on  each  year,  so  the  failures  and  losses 
of  business  should  gradually  diminish.  Of  course  this 
was  the  evident  intent  of  Congress.  This  was  an  honest 
hypothesis  for  the  law's  enactment. 

But,  true  to  the  sinister  philosophy  that  dictated 
its  being,  clearly  perceived  bv  its  privilege-holding  pro- 
genitors, the  law  did  not  exhibit  its  goodness  in 
decreasing  failures  and  losses.  Nay,  thev  climbed  with 
giant  steps.  Instead  of  being  five  or  six  thousand,  as 
indicated  by  the  number  for  1866;  they  ran  to  47,603. 
This  is  the  army  of  militant  bankrupts  that  surrendered 
in  dispair.  The  spoils  laid  at  their  conquerors'  feet 
were  $1,422,019,900.  By  what  strange  fatality  does 
the  contraction  and  loss  run,  contesting  for  supremacy? 
From  the  Nation's  heart  was  drawn  this  arterial  blood, 
and  thereby  the  body  staggered  and  fainted.  Fear  sat 
on  the  counters  of  trade — poverty  was  capping  at  the 
professional  door-commerce  reefed-he.r  sails- birds  built 
nests  in  the  furnaces — riot  sang  its  ribaldry  and  touched 
its  torch— labor,  once  erect, _now  stooped,  became  idle, 
anxious,  distracted,  ejected  from  home,  passed  from 
respectability  to  the  diabelrie  of  trampdom. 

Was  there  any  necessity  for  this  vast  miser}'  ?  None. 
Did  the  people  demand  this  legislation?  No.  Why  was 
the  spear  thrust  into  the  popular  heart  ?  That  green- 
backs, the  preserver  of  the  Union,  might  die  in  ignominy. 
The  earth  quaked,  the  sky  darkened,  the  sun  vanished 

—55— 


— darkness  entered  all  places,  ruin  was  abroad  and  sor- 
row was  in  all  hearts.  Amid  this  financial  gloom,  the 
bondholder  walked  unharmed,  panoplied  in  statutory 
safety.  His  ambition  was  realized.  Gold  and  silver 
should  again  reign  supreme  and  be  obedient  to  his  com- 
mand. The  people's  money — the  paper  currency  called 
into  being  by  their  omnipotent  fiat — was  destroyed, 
and  private  money  once  more  became  a  minister  to  his 
avarice.  For  this  he  desired  to  and  did  "  control  legis- 
lation." 

Count  the  tears,  mark  off  the  groans,  figure  the 
suicides,  number  the  deserted  homes,  tally  the  hungry 
babes  and  wasted  mothers,  enumerate  the  vagrants, 
paupers  and  criminals,  all  directly  attributable  to  this 
" contraction."  Marshal  them  before  the  tribunal  of 
your  own  patriotic  conscience  and  demand  a  verdict. 
Against  this  assassination  of  American  citizenship  it 
falls—  "Guilty,"— " More  Guilty,"— " Most  Guilty." 

Thus  reads  the  record  as  penned  by  Truth.  But  its 
damning  force  is  augmented  when  you  note  at  the  date 
of  the  law,  April  1866,  the  population  was  about  35,- 
000,000  and  the  per  capita  was  about  $60,  and  in  1873 
the  population  was  about  40,000,000and  the  per  capita 
was  about  $30.  There  was  one-eighth  more  people 
and  one  half  less  money  among  them.  There  ought  to 
have  been  $2,400,000,000.  There  was  $1,212,131,510. 

What  a  spectacle  is  presented !  An  expanding  pop- 
ulation, with  multiplying  wants  for  all  things,  solemnly 
deprives  itself  of  the  money  to  buy  those  things,  cement- 
ing their  poverty  in  the  adamant  of  a  national  decree. 
Is  this  the  crowning  wisdpm  of  statecraft  ? 

Judged  by  the  canons  of  common  sense,  it  would 
seem  that  the  true  policy  would  have  been  to  expand 
the  volume  of  money,  rather  than  to  contract  it.  For, 
as  there  are  more  men  more  clothes  must  be  had — more 
money  is  needed  to  buy  them  ;  as  there  are  more  women 
to  brighten  homes,  more  money  is  needed  to  make  them 

—56— 


temples  of  wifely  love;  as  there  are  more  children  to 
rear  to  intelligent  citizenship,  more  money  is  requisite 
to  feed,  clothe  and  educate  them  for  life's  responsibilities. 

Would  Grant  stand  as  a  grand  chieftain,  if  with  a 
swelling  army  he  had  piled  and  burned  over  one-half  of 
his  muskets  ?  Ditch-encircled  Vicksburg  and  evacuated 
Richmond  may  answer. 

Would  Lee  wear  the  chaplet  of  a  famed  captain,  if 
when  concentrating  his  veterans  for  immortal  Gettys- 
burg, he  had  spiked  one-half  of  his  cannons,  and  then 
staked  his  cause  on  the  battle?  The  muskets  and  can- 
non made  the  soldiers  effective. 

So  in  business  and  social  contests,  money  is  the 
effective  weapon  with  which  man  fights  the  enemy — 
Want.  With  it  he  wins  victories.  Without  it  he  suffers 
defeat. 

But  the  last  table  only  exhibits  one  decade.  The 
same  bleeding,  starving,  thirsting,  sleepless,  lacerating, 
inquisitorial  medication  of  the  sick  body  politic  has 
continued  until  to-day.  Instead  of  the  transfusion  of 
new  blood,  the  weakened  patient  has  been  bled  periodi- 
cally by  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury.  The  bond- 
holding  physician  has-  felt  its  pulse  and  ordered  more 
blood  to  be  drawn.  Quick  the  lancet  has  cut.  The 
clovse  of  the  war  saw  the  Nation  full  of  lusty  life,  with 
its  circulating  blood — $1,732,811,195  currency  (exclud- 
ing coin) — bounding  in  its  veins.  On  Nov.  1,  1892,  that 
same  blood  was  measured  as  $346,681,016  currency-, 
$55,648  Demand  Notes,  and  $15,279,397  fractional 
currency— total,  $362,016,061.  This  total  is  the  Treas- 
ury book  record — the  real  amount  in  use  is  much  less, 
owing  to  losses,  fires,  etc. 

In  1865  the  population  stood  about  35,000,000, 
and  the  per  capita  was  a  bout  $60.00  counting  in  all  the 
Southern  States.  In  1890  the  population  was  num- 
bered at  about  63, 000, 000  and  the  per  capita  is  claimed 
to  be  $23.00.  Conservatively  estimated,  it  is  not  more 

—57— 


than  $10. 00  and  perhaps  much  less  in  daily  use.  To  this 
mostly  may  be  referred  the  101,000  failures  since  1881, 
including  1892. 

For  the  year  1893,  the  most  ruinous  panic  in  our 
history  may-  be  epitomized : 

15,000  Commercial  failures  for $330,000,000 

100,000  Mortgage  and  other  failures  for 200,000,000 

641  Bank  failures  for 210,000,000 

26,000  miles  of  Railroad  failures  for 1,212,000,000 

Total $1,952,000,000 

This  stupendous  diminution  of  the  volume  of  the 
National  currency  is  directly  traceable  to  the  effect  of 
this  Act  oi  April  1866.  For  its  crushing  tyranny, 
Plutocracy  is  responsible. 

Mammon  had  won  three  trophies — depre- 
ciated greenbacks,  national  banks  and  con- 
traction. Surely  the  vision  of  the  new  Financiers  is 
not  searching  for  more  conquests.  '  Their  ambition 
must  be  now  satisfied.  The  white  slave  may  rest  his 
weary  limbs  and  sleep  in  peace,  with  sweet  memories 
and  merciful  prayers.  UNCLE  TOM  NEED  NOT  LONGER 
FEAR  LEGREE.  Not  so  wills  the  wily  master. 

He  held  in  reserve  a  new  torture — ''the  Credit 
Strengthening  Act."  It  passed  March  1869  in  Congress. 
The  statute  required  the  Treasury  to  pay  in  coin  the  out 
standing  Bonds  and  Treasury  Notes  at  their  face  value. 
By  this  the  Government  waived  the  right  to  pay  them 
in  its  other  "lawful  money,"  good  by  law  for  its  other 
public  debts  and  for  all  private  obligations.  As  there 
were  then  about  $1,500,000,000  Bonds,  unpaid,  and 
they  had  been  bought  at  an  average  of  sixty  cents  or 
less  on  the  dollar,  their  cost  to  the  holders  was  about 
$900,000,000  or  less.  These  holders  did  not  care  for 
the  paltry  bauble  of  $600,000,000,  that  was  to  pass 
to  their  ownership  by  this  legislation.  No  I  No  !  This 
was  beneath  their  exalted  view. 

But  they  did  profoundly  feel  a  painful  solicitude  for 

—58— 


the  honor  of  the  U.  S.  Government.  Though  not  "nom- 
inated in  the  bond  "that  payment  should  be  in  coin, 
and  not  so  anticipated  by  any  purchaser,  the  holders 
now  felt  the  supreme  mortification,  that  so-called  repu- 
diation would  bring.  The  Nation  could  not  afford  to 
suffer  that  degradation.  They  said,  "Only  by  coin 
payments  can  Congress  save  our  people  from  the  ridi- 
cule of  Europe." 

Besides 'these  two  sentiments,  they  contended  that 
labor  was  rich  and  patient  under  the  forty-five  per  cent 
Tariff,  and  loved  to  pay  its  tax  on  the  4,200  articles, 
listed  in  the  Revenue  Law.  It  could  pay  this  insignifi- 
cant $600,000,000  as  a  new  principal  and  its  annual 
interest  of  $36,000,000,  and  not  feel  conscious  of  the 
modification  of  the  contract.  Taxation  is  the  high  way 
for  national  progress,  and  more  bonds  are  a  sure  insignia 
of  a  steady  development. 

But  their  last  and  eloquent  argument  was,  that  the 
nation  was  only  discharging  its  moral  obligations  to 
them/  Behold !  what  immense  sacrifices  they  had  made 
in  staying  at  home  during  the  war  and  guarding  the 
gold.  They  had  kept  it  safe  and  beyond  reach. 

Greenbacks  \vere  a  mere  "  war  measure^  and  fit  ior 
such  emergencies.  But  at  infinite  cost,  and  amid  the 
fierce  dangers  of  crashing  markets,  they  had  preserved 
the  divine  metals,  gold  and  silver.  Now  the  nation 
should  discharge  its  currency — me  re  emergency  defenders 
— and  give  the  old  and  immemorially  worshiped  coins 
their  sole  sway  in  debt  paying. 

So  before  Congress  prayed  these  saintly  veterans, 
scarred  in  battles  fierce  "on  change."  So  plead  these 
meek  disciples,  who  had  reaped  such  meagre  benefits 
from  the  Rebellion.  Though  by  earnest  entreaty  they 
implored  the  preacher  to  leave  his  pulpit,  the  smith 
his  anvil,  the  farmer  his  plow,  the  merchant  his 
counter  and  the  toiler  his  task,  and  come  to  Wash- 
ington and  aid  in  passing  this  bill  to  strengthen  the 

-59- 


credit,  all  these"  citizens  were  too  much  engrossed  to 
come.  So,  alone,  single-handed,  poor,  dejected  and  un- 
organized, this  phalanx  of  credit-savers,  above  lobbies, 
without  "influence,"  timidly  massed  at  the  Capitol,  de- 
termined to  save  the  honor  of  their  glorious  country. 
Congress  magnanimously  yielded  to  their  entreaty- 
solaced  their  tears,  soothed  their  sorrows. 

Hallelujah !  The  nation's  credit  was  saved.  The 
Bondholders,  with  sweetly  chastened  resignation,  pock- 
eted $600,000,000,  and  left  this  generation  the  precious 
privilege  of  paying  the  face  value  of  the  bonds  and  their 
annual  interest.  For  this  consummation,  Oh  Patriots ! 
your  consolation  is,  that  the  sainted  Sherman,  speak- 
ing from  the  unique  experience  of  becoming  a  twenty- 
fold  millionaire  from  a  small  salary,  and  piously  con- 
verted to  this  law,  said  in  1879  of  its  condemners: 
"To  refuse  to  pay  the  bonds  in  gold  would  be  repudia- 
tion and  extortion,  and  would  be  scoffing  at  the  bless- 
ings of  Almighty  God." 

Oh !  "  what  fools  these  mortals  be,"  else  how^could 
Hazzard  have  conceived,  planned  and  directed  his 
triumph  to  such  far  and  vast  results.  To-day  the  Amer- 
ican voter  sits  in  the  ashes  of  dessolation,  paying  pen- 
ance for  the  momentous  folly  of  his  past  franchises.  On 
naked  knees  he  must  continue  to  make  his  pilgrimage 
to  the  shrine  of  gold.  He  cannot  be  relieved  from  his 
vows  of  folly,  until  he  revolts  from  the  domination  of 
the  putrid  past,  and  "dares  to  look  the  omnipotent 
tyrant  (gold)  in  his  face  and  tell  him  that  his  evil  is  not 
good."  For  the  sake  of  his  liberty — for  home,  wife  and 
babes— let  that  voter  imitate  him  of  old,  when  "He  took 
the  calf  which  they  had  made,  and  burnt  it  in  the  fire 
and  ground  it  to  powder  and  strewed  it  on  the  water 
and  made  the  children  of  Israel  drink  of  it."  By  annihi- 
lation came  their  purification.  So  here,  only  by  utterly 
destroying  the  money  functions  of  gold  and  silver,  can 
the  American  Government  hope  for  a  reformation. 

—60— 


" Neither  a  borrower,  nor  a  lender  be; 
For  Loan  oft  loses  both  itself  and  friend, 
And  borrow  dulls  the  edge  of  husbandry." 

Who  can  deny  the  wisdom  of  the  poet?  Yet  strange 
to  say,  while  freedom  from  debt  is  the  dearest  wish  of 
every  honest  man  and  firm,  corporation  and  Nation, 
the  Hazzard  Circular  was  the  progenitor  of  another 
and  opposite  policy  for  this  people. 

On  July  14,  1870,  the  Refunding  Act  was  passed. 
By  it  certain  outstanding  bonds  were  called  in  and  new 
ones  were  issued — with  the  innocent  and  modest  proviso 
that  $750,000,000  cannot  be  paid  until  1907.  Notwith- 
standing th*e  U.S.  Treasury  all  the  time  has  this  sum  on 
hand,  in  reality  applicable  for  any  honest  purpose,  this 
sum  must  run,  with  its  $30,000,000  annual  interest. 
No  surplus  can  be  appropriated  to  the  satisfaction  of 
these  cormorants.  With  leech-like  tenacity  they  cling 
on  and  refuse  to  be  filled.  To  eat  out  that  "surplus," 
wrung  out  by  taxation,  the  world,  in  1891,  stood  as- 
tounded in  contemplation  of  a  Billion  Dollar  Congress. 
Thus,  the  people  must  pay  for  extravagant  legislation 
and  endure  taxation,  robbenr,  and  burn  incense  to  the 
metallic  God  for  weary  years  to  come.  These  unpaid 
millions  must  be  exempt  from  all  taxation.  They  are 
too  sacred  for  the  profane  inventory  of  the  Assessor. 
But  the  laborer  must  pay  tribute  upon  the  cradle  where 
sleeps  his  babe,  or  failing  to  have  so  much,  he  may  some- 
what compensate  for  his  cumbering  the  earth  by  paying 
the  price  of  his  head,  as  a  poll-tax.  He  may  rest  con  tent 
with  the  knowledge  that  in  case  of  war,  if  he  did  not 
freely  stake  his  life,  he  would  make  "good  food  for 
powder,"  called  thereto  tinder  the  solemn  ceremonial  of 
a  "draft,"  or  appearing  as  the  "substitute "of  his  mas- 
ter, whose  time  is  wholly  devoted  to  finance.  But  the 
point  was  gained.  "The  government  was  stable."  It 
had  an  unredeemable  debt,  based  on  long-time  bonds. 

—61— 


Free  Trade  England  has  received  infinite  maledictions 
from  American  politicians,  yet  the  latter  have  modelled 
the  fiscal  polity  of  this  government  directly  in  slavish  imi- 
tation of  England.  Why?  Simply  because,  though  Tariff 
is  a  potent  factor  in  business  life,  it  is  laughably  insig- 
nificant in  comparison  with  the  influence  of  a  single 
metalic  standard.  British  gold,  with  the  bond  system, 
has  accomplished  certain  definite  results  for  the  money 
aristocracy  there,  and  it  was  hoped  for  the  same  suprem- 
acy here ;  and  the  realization  has  tragically  come. 

Deathward  the  curse  of  metals  works  its  way, 
With  dire  great  sins  already  past ; 
The  next  shall  close  the  blackest  day — 
Crime's  vilest  offspring  is  the  last. 

The  poet  did  not  so  tune  his  lyre.  What  matters  that  ? 
In  the  light  of  the  next  historic  scene,  is  not  the  parody 
true?  Peer  into  the  night !  Behold  the  " charmed  pot  " 
and  its  weird  attendants!  as  they  dance  their  " antique 
round."  Well  may  the  mortal  say,  "  Let  this  pernicious 
hour  stand  aye,  accursed  in  the  calendar." 

For  the  cauldron,  has  boiled  and  bubbled.  There 
rises  a  form.  Now  those  attendants  clothe  him  in  flesh 
and  his  Master  breathes  on  him.  His  commission 
commands  him  as  Gold's  representative  to  speed  on  to 
Washington.  Gaze  on  his  face.  Those  are  familiar 
features.  Those  lips  have  once  spoken  eloquently  for 
bi-metalism,  and  won  for  him  an  honorable  place  as  a 
financial  authority.  This  is  Ernest  Seyd. 

Is  his  mission  diplomatic?  He  is  not  so  accredited 
in  an  exequator.  Is  he  a  military  emissary  ?  No  ;  Eng- 
land once  trusted  to  arms  and  lost  her  colonies.  Is  he 
a  philanthropist  ?  He  bowed  not  to  Pentatuech,  Bible 
nor  Koran  at  his  departure,  and  brought  no  moral  ben- 
dictions.  He  was  charged  with  none  of  these  high 
responsibilities.  Not  since  the  clay  of  Hazzard,  had 
a  man  touched  America  whose  foot  so  cursed  her 

—62— 


soil.  He  was  a  foreigner  and  owed  no- allegiance  to  our 
nation,  and  yet  his  purpose  here  was  to  make  our  laws 
and  leave  an  imperious  mandate  for  their  execution. 

He  did  not  come  in  the  attitude  of  a  conqueror,  yet 
he  conquered  by  the  commanding  potency  that  was  so 
clear  to  the  crownless  wanderer — 

"Plate  sin  with  gold,  and  thestrong  lance  of  Justice  hurtless  breaks. 
Arm  it  with  rags,  and  a  Pigmy's  straw  doth  pierce  it." 

He  came  with  the  express  design  to  demonetize  silver. 
Did  he  use  bribe  money?  Was  his  pocket-change — 
$500,000 — needed  to  make  donations  to  Sunday 
Schools?  or  to  "soap"  Congressmen  in  "blocks 
of  five"  to  a  comprehension  of  the  purchasing  power  of 
appreciating  gold  ? 

The  denial  of  this  charge  of  bribery  is  tried  to  be 
supported  by  the  fact,  that  he  had  published  a  book  in 
favor  of  silver,  and  was  its  firm  friend.  Betrayal  of  a 
cause  is  not  unsung.  A  disciple  wronged  his  Master 
in  the  Garden.  A  Revolutionary  soldier  forgot  duty 
and  took  dishonored  pelf  to  pay  for  his  treason.  So 
here  the  antecedent  standing  of  SEYD  peculiar!}'  fitted 
him  for  his  mission.  Suspicion  was  disarmed.  His 
knowledge  was  desired  and  gratefully  received.  Once 
introduced  to  the  Legislators,  and  he  had  ample  scope 
for  the  most  diplomatic  villainy  ever  used  against  an 
honest  people.  But  explanation  is  futile  and  denial  is 
vain. 

Here  is  a  public  record — Congressional  Globe,  page 
2304:  Chairman  Hooper,  in  presenting  the  Bill,  April 
9,  1872,  said: 

"Ernest  Seyd,  of  London,  a  distinguished  writer  and  bullionist, 
who  is  now  here,  has  given  gren,  attention  to  the  subject  of  mint  and 
coinage.  After  having  examiner  the  first  draft  of  this  bill  he  made 
various  sensible  suggestions,  which  the  Committee  adopted  and 
embodied  in  the  bill." 

Judge  Kelly,  later,  declared  the  Demonetizing  Bill 
was  penned  in  the  hand-writing  of  Seyd. 

— G3— 


In  1873,  the  Banker's  Magazine  for  August  admits 
the  European  motive,  the  contemplated  crime,  the  fund 
supplied,  the  perpetration,  his  agency  and  his  principals, 
and  describes  them  in  these  words : 

"In  1872,  silver  being  demonetized  in  France,  England  and  Hol- 
land, a  capital  of  $500,000  was  raised  and  Ernest  Seyd  of  London 
was  sent  to  this  country  with  this  fund,  as  agent  of  the  foreign  bond- 
holders and  capitalists,  to  effect  the  same  object  (demonetization  of 
silver),  which  was  accomplished." 

It  is  a  familiar  rule  of  evidence  that  great  value  is 
to  be  given  to  the  admission  of  an  opponent.  It  cannot 
be  presumed  that  the  Magazine  would  have  so  spoken 
against  the  interests  of  its  class,  if  truth  had  not  com- 
pelled the  utterance.  But  these  two  facts  are  admitted : 
Seyd  was  present,  assisting  the  Committee,  and  silver 
was  demonetized.  The  proof  shows  that  he  wrote  the 
Bill,  and  came  here  as  the  agent  of  foreign,  capitalists, 
bringing  an  immense  fascinating  fund. 

The  most  prominent  Congressmen  have  publicly 
stated  that  they  did  not  know  that  the  Bill  contained 
the  demonetizing  clause,  and  that  had  it  been  known,  it 
could  not  have  passed. 

Mr.  Richardson,  Treasurer,  afterwards,  in  1873, 
recommend kd  specie  payments  in  silver,  and  President 
Grant  advocated  silver  payments,  saying  there  ought 
to  be  $300,000,000  in  circulation.  They  either  did  not 
know  of  or  did  not  understand  the  law. 

These  statements  become  of  monumental  importance, 
when  the  fact  is  considered  that  the  Press,  the  Rostrum 
and  the  Party  Platforms  had  been  silent  on  the  point. 
No  discussion  among  the  people,  no  demand  from  poli- 
ticians, no  declaration  of  candidates  had  been  heard. 
The  hush  of  the  tomb  rested  on  the  matter.  Not  till 
years  had  cycled  on  did  the  public  learn  that  in  the 
chalice  nestled  poison;  in  the  harmless  horse  was  con- 
cealed destruction ;  in  the  grassy  plain  was  the  fatal 
ditch.  The  secresy  of  the  act  is  the  unbroken  and  elo- 
quent testimony  of  its  criminal  intent. 

—34— 


Among  all  the  crimes  that  have  burned  their  history 
into  the  last  thirty  years,  this  act  has  the  isolated  sig- 
nificance of  being  the  most  treasonable.  In  a  general 
sense,  depreciating  greenbacks  —  making  necessities 
dearer — was  a  misdemeanor ;  the  National  Bank  system 
was  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses ;  contraction 
was  robbery;  payment  of  the  bonds  in  coin  was  a 
forgery  of  the  contract ;  the  refunding  was  a  larceny  of 
the  bread  garnered  for  unborn  generations.  They  were 
all  grave  sins,  and  meant  degradation  for  the  individual. 
But  this  Seyd  Act  was  treason,  because  it  was  a  feloni- 
ous assault  on  the  purity  of  Congress — a  theft  of  legis- 
lative conscience — and  the  uprooting  of  a  fundamental 
governmental  policy. 

Why  so,  and  how  as  to  the  latter?  While  the  Con- 
stitution does  not  limit  Congress  to  gold  and  silver  as 
the  sole  substance  for  money,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  these  two  were  in  general  use  in  colonial  days  and 
so  continued  at  our  national  formation,  and  on  to  1873. 
Each  held  a  definite  fixed  place  under  the  law.  If  gold 
was  devoted  to  large  dealings,  silver  was  sanctified  to 
a  myriad  of  daily  small  uses.  If  the  rich  man  trusted 
gold,  the  poor  one  loved  silver.  If  gold  paid  for  lands 
and  ships,  silver  bought  bread  and  coal.  As  they  had 
come  in  loving  union  down  the  centuries,  our  people 
received  them  with  equal  regard.  Before  the  law  and 
the  public,  they  stood  each  as  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts. 
Now,  this  Seyd  Act  proposed  to  and  did  destroy  the 
legal  tender  power  of  silver  as  a  debt-payer  for  all  sums 
exceeding  $5.00,  practically  reducing  it  to  mere  change. 

As  a  vantage  stand  for  a  clear  vision',  an  extended 
quotation  will  serve : 

"The  production  of  gold  and  silver  has  advanced  by  long  waves, 
first  one  metal  running  ahead  and  then  the  other.  At  the  time  of  the 
discoverv  of  America,  the  European  stock  of  the  precious  metals  was 
almost  exhausted.  It  probably  amounted  to  less  than  $200,000,000 
in  all.  The  ratio  of  value  between  silver  and  gold  then  was  11.3  to  1. 
In  the  next  fifty  years  gold  was  produced  to  the  amount  of  $230,000,- 

—65— 


000,  and  silver  to  the  extent  of  $150,000,000,  the  ratio  remaining 
almost  stationary  at  11.2  to  1.  Then  the  mines  of  Potosi,  the  great- 
est bonanza  ever  uncovered  in  the  world,  together  with  those  of 
Mexico,  Chile  and  Peru,  gave  silver  an  impetus.  For  the  300  years 
from  Potosi  to  Sutter's  Mill,  the  production  of  silver  steadily  outran 
that  of  gold.  During  that  period  the  mines  yielded  about  $6,000,- 
000,000  worth  of  the  former  metal  and  $2,600,000,000  of  the  latter, 
and  the  ratio  slowly  went  down  from  11.5  to  one  in  1543  to  13  in 
1600,  14.81  in  1700,  15.68  in  1800,  and  15.85  in  1848.  When  our  • 
first  coinage  law  was  adopted,  the  annual  production  of  silver  in  the 
world  was  fifty  times  as  great  as  that  of  gold,  by  weight,  and  more 
than  three  times  as  great  by  value.  The  disparity  was  much  greater 
than  it  is  now,  the  present  excess  in  the  world's  production  of  silver 
being  less  than  twenty-four  times  by  weight  and  nothing  by  value. 

The  discovery  of  the  mines  of  California  and  Australia  made  a 
change  in  the  situation.  In  twenty-eight  years  after  1848  the  amount 
of  gold  poured  into  the  channels  of  commerce  was  $3,215,000,000,  or 
much  more  than  the  whole  stock  in  existence  at  the  beginning  of  that 
period,  and  nearly  a  fourth  more  than  the  entire  output  for  the  entire 
330  years  from  the  discovery  of  America  until  that  time.  In  other 
words,  the  world's  stock  of  gold  was  doubled  in  less  than  twenty-six 
years,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  increase  came  within  ten  years.  No 
such  sudden  deluge  of  one  metal  had  ever  been  known  before.  To 
appreciate  its  overwhelming  nature  we  may  cite  the  fact  that  in  1853 
the  mines  of  the  United  States  turned  out  $65,000,000  in  gold  and 
only  $50,000  in  silver;  while  in  1873,  when  the  fear  of  a  flood  of 
silver  from  Nevada  was  alleged  as  a  reason  for  closing  the  European 
mints  to  that  metal,  we  produced  $35, 750, 000 in  silver  and  $36,000,- 
000  in  gold. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  this  avalanche  of  gold  from  California 
and  Australia  should  have  terrified  financiers.  Nobody  knew  what 
might  happen  next.  Fears  were  entertained  that  gold  might  cease  to 
be  a  precious  metal,  just  as  they  are  now  expressed  with  regard  to 
silver.  In  France  the  noted  economist,  Michel  Chevalier,  vehemently 
defended  the  ancient  and  inalienable  right  of  every  French  bondholder 
to  demand  payment  in  silver  5-franc  pieces  instead  of  in  depreciated 
gold,  and  he  urged  the  government  to  put  the  country  definitel}'  on  a 
solid  silver  basis  before  it  was  too  late.  Germanj-,  including  Austria, 
adopted  the  single  standard  of  silver  in  1857. 

But  the  fear  of  an  indefinite  depreciation  of  gold  proved  unfounded . ' ' 
—Mr.  S.  E.  Moffit  in  Examiner,  July  21,  1893. 

Now,  having  the  world's  situation,  the  following 
words  of  Mr.  Warwick  Martin  are  pertinent: 

"In  1816,  for  reasons  arising  out  of  her  wars  with  France,  to 
prevent  the  exportation  of  silver  from  the  country,  England  demone- 
tized silver  in  large  sums.  In  1871  and  1872  Germany.  Derm  ark, 
Sweeden  and  Norway  demonetized  silver  and  made  gold  the  only  full 
legal  tender.  This  was  done  to  relieve  themselves  of  the  conflicting 
coins  of  the  nations  with  which  the  German  Empire  and  Scandinavian 

—66— 


Union  were  affiicted.  This  caused  a  demand  for  $1,000,000,-OOO  of 
gold,  -which  had  to  be  supplied  by  the  sale  of  silver.  The  sales  of  sil- 
ver and  the  purchase  of  goid  enhanced  the  price  of  the  latter  and 
depressed  that  of  the  former.  This  fall  in  the  price  of  silver  and  rise 
of  the  price  of  gold  made  the  holders  of  United  States  bonds,  which 
were  payable  in  silver,  uneasy.  They  wished  silver  demonetized. — 
Money  of  Nations,  page  225. 

With  this  condition  in  Europe,  this  incentive .  to 
action,  the  bondholders  looked  to  this  country  'and 
turned  their  financial  microscope  on  the  poisonous 
silver,  and  their  telescope  on  the  beautiful  gold,  and 
became  alarmed  as  they  watched  the  annual  produc- 
tions as  shown  in  this  table : 


YEAR. 

1849 
1850 
1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 
1855 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 
1865 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 


GOLD. 

$40,000,000 
50,000,000 
55,000,000 
60,000,000 
65,000,000 
60,000,000 
55,000,000 
55,000,000 
55,000,000 
50,000,000 
50,000,000 
46,000,000 
43,000,000 
39,200,000 
40,000,000 
46,100,000 
53,225,000 
53,500,000 
51,725,000 
48,000,000 
49,500,000 
50,000,000 
43,500,000 
36,000,000 


SILVER. 

$  50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

50,000 

500,000 

100,000 

150,000 

2,000,000 

4,500,000 

8,500,000 

11,000,000 

10,250,000 

10,000,000 

13,500.000 

12,000,000 

12,000,000 

16,000,000 

23,000,000 

28,750,000 


TOTAL. 

$40,050,000 
50,050,000 
55,050,000 
60,050,000 
65,050,000 
60,050,000 
55,050,000 
55,050,000 
55,050,000 
50,500,000 
50,100,000 
46,150,000 
45,000,000 
43,700,000 
48,500,000 
57,150,000 
64.475,000 
63,500,000 
65,225,000 
60,000,000 
61,500,000 
66,000,000 
66,500,000 
64,750,000 


Totals   $1,182,750,000    $153,700,000       $1,336,450^00 

Just  about  this  time,  it  is  a  well  known  fact  in  this 
city,  although  unpublished,  that  an  intelligent  and 
scientific  agent  of  the  Rothchilds  came  to  Nevada  and 
with  the  consent  of  Macka}-,  investigated  the  .Corn- 
stock  Lode. 


—67— 


Concealing  his  purpose,  he  measured  its  extent  and 
of  all  the  mines  there  took  accurate  notes.  On  his 
return,  these  were  submitted  to  his  Master.  Soon  after 
this,  the  infamous  conspiracy  against  Silver  began  to 
unfold  itself— reaching  its  climax  with  Seyd. 

Now  you  can  see  why  it  was  necessary  for  the  Seyd 
Bill  to  eliminate  the  words  " standard  dollar"  from  the 
old  law.  If  it  had  been  openly  proclaimed  that  it  was 
a  national  policy  to  demonetize  silver,  this  increasing 
annual  production  would  have  formed  an  insuperable 
objection .  So  by  stealth  it  was  accomplished  Strangely, 
this  legislation  fits  into  England's  policy.  This  is  an- 
other piece  for  the  mosaic  the  European  gold  barons 
have  for  years  been  cementing  together,  as  they  gather 
them  from  tributary  nations. 

So  if  it  now  be  asked,  what  has  this  to  do  with  the 
proposition  that  metallic  moneys  should  be  abolished, 
the  answer  comes  like  the  lightning's  flash.  Here  in 
1857  Germany  and  Austria  strip  the  chivalrous  Knight, 
Gold,  of  all  his  old-time  habiliments,  utterly  ignoring 
that  from  ancient  days  he  had  been  bestowing  his  gifts 
on  kings  and  people.  Even  the  French  experts  stood 
ready  to  pronounce  a  benediction  on  the  dishonoring. 
There  was  going  to  be  too  much  money,  and  hence  too 
many  freemen.  The  old  world  financiers  were  about  to 
carry  a  holy  crusade  against  the  hated  infidel,  Gold. 

But  England,  ever  as  eager  to  kiss  the  "  Crescent" 
as  the  "  Cross,"  where  her  interest  lays,  would  not  send 
her  chivalry, notwithstanding  the  "indulgences"  prom- 
ised with  fervid  eloquence.  As  it  had  stood  for  a  thou- 
sand years,  so  stood  the  "sea-girt  isle,"  and  touched 
with  her  influence,  induced  new  thought  and  pointed 
out  other  pathways,  and  finally  won  with  her  matchless 
leadership. 

Thereafter,  in  less  than  sixteen  years,  this  same  Ger- 
many had  restored  Gold  to  his  inheritance,  and  subjected 
to  disgrace,  Silver — that  other  money  whose  historic 

—68— 


birth  is  too  early  for  authentic  date,  and  can  only  be 
found  in  tradition.  Despite  this  venerable  descent  it 
must  go  into  "debasement."  Other  European  countries 
joined,  and  the  United  States  must  calumniate  her  ante- 
cedents and  enroll  herself  on  the  side  of  legalized 
robbery. 

That  there  may  be  no  question  in  its  political  aspect 
as  to  the  fall  of  silver  and  rise  of  gold,  produced  entirely 
by  legislation,  the  testimony  of  Sherman  in  the  U.  S. 
Senate,  April  11,  1876,  is  advanced.  Speaking  of  the 
act  of  Germany,  passed  July  9,  1873,  he  says: 

•'The  enormous  effect  of  this  law  in  Germany,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence the  partial  demonetization  of  silver  coins,  I  suppose  is  felt  by 
every  man,  woman  and  child  who  buys  or  sells  ariy thing.  I  suppose 
there  is  no  act  of  Parliament  that  has  so  wide-reaching  effect  as  this 
act  of  the  German  Parliament.  The  amount  of  coin  in  the  world  is 
estimated  by  Mr.  Seyd  and  other  technical  writers  at  $3,200,000,000 
silver  and  $3,500,000,000  gold.  So  the  effect  of  the  act  of  Germany, 
aided  no  doubt  somewhat  by  the  large  supply  of  silver  by  our  mines, 
has  been  to  reduce  the  purchasing  power  of  the  whole  of  this  enor- 
mous sum  of  thirty-two  hundred  millions  of  silver  fully  10  per  cent. 
The  fall  of  the  silver  trade  dollar  in  this  country  has  been  from  103 

to  91. 

****###* 

A  struggle  for  the  possession  of  gold  at  once  arose  between  all  the 
great  nations,  because  everybody  could  see  that  if  $3,200,000,000 
of  silver  coin  were  demonetized  and  $3,500.000,000  of  gold  coin  made 
the  sole  standard,  it  would  enormously  add  to  the  value  of  gold,  and 
the  Bank  of  France,  the  Bank  of  England  and  the  Imperial  Bank  of 
Germany  at  once  commenced  grasping  for  gold  in  whatever  form. 
Therefore  what  we  have  observed  recently  is  not  so  much  a  fall  of 
silver  as  it  is  a  rise' of  gold,  the  inevitable  effect  of  a  fear  of  the  demon- 
etization of  silver;  and  now  the  Bank  of  France  has  in  its  vaults  the 
enormous  amount  of  $300,000,000  of  gold  in  coin  and  bullion ;  the 
Bank  of  England  has  $170,000,000,  and  the  Imperial  Bank  of  Ger- 
many has  $125,000,000.  So  in  these  three  depositories  there  is  over 
$600,000,000  of  gold,  or  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  supply  of  the  world.'* 

This  was  said  in  1876,  when  the  conspiracy  was  as 
to  results  in  chrysalis.  But  all  then  faintly  predicted  is 
now  sculptured  on  the  tablet  of  fact  in  just  twenty 
years. 

•  This  is  the  indictment  of  one  metal  against  the  other 
as  to  its  political  moves.  It  rang  out  yesterday :  / 

-69- 


DENVER,  April  23,  1894.— A.  C.  Fisk,  president  of  the  Pan-Ameri- 
cah  Bimetallic  Association  has  issued  the  following  call: 

''Believing  the  present  an  auspicious  time  to  accomplish  some- 
thing for  silver,  thereby  restoring  the  prosperity  and  contentment 
among  the  people,  confidence  in  our  rulers  and  institutions  and  con- 
ferring untold  blessings  on  the  human  race,  a  meeting  is  hereby  called 
to.  assemble  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  on  May  22d,  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  United  States,  South  and  Central  America,  and 
Old  Mexico  and  all  the  States  thereof,  to  memorialize  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  to  restore  silver  to  its  ancient  right  at  a  ratio  not 
to  exceed  16  to  1. 

At  the  bidding  of  a  power  that  has  blotted  out  civilization  in  all 
ages,  the  law-making  and  executive  branches  of  the  government  have 
stricken  down  one-half  of  the  metal  money  and  debased  and  partially 
demonetised  the  paper  currency,  compelling  the  people  of  the  United 
States  to  pav  unnecessarily  in  the  past  twenty-five  years  $20,000,- 
<000,000  in  interest,  principal  and  discount,  and  by  the  vicious  laws 
Ihave  burdened  the  nation  with  a  real  estate  mor.gage  debt  of  $20,- 
'000,000,000,  and  other  debts  aggregating  as  much  more,  and  now 
seek  to  reduce  the  country  to  a  gold  basis,  and  expect  the  people  to 
pay  $40,000,000,000  oi  debt  with  $500,000,000  in  gold— to  pay  $80 
•of  debt  with  $1  in  money — reducing  the  price  of  farm  products  66  per 
cent,  and  taking  from  the  debtors  the  power  to  pay  their  debts. 

The  last  census  said  there  were  $65,000,000,000  worth  of  prop- 
erty in  the  United  States.  The  gold  oligarchy  has  depreciated  it  in 
value  one  half,  rendering  the  nation  insolvent  for  $7,500,000,000. 
Twenty  thousand  people  now  own  three-fourths  of  the  property  of 
the  nation ;  10,000,000  people  are  involuntarily  idle,  and  the  property 
of  the  nation  is  rapidly  being  confiscated.  Fields,  factories  and  mills 
are  deserted.  Every  industry  is  stricken  as  with  a  plague.  Strong 
men,  refined  women  and  innocent  babes  are  starving  in  the  land  of 
plenty,  while  our  rulers  are  rioting  in  luxurious  living,  and  frenzied 
with  their  successes  in  the  past,  are  inventing  new  schemes  of  robbery 
and  plunder. 

When  Greece,  Rome,  Egypt  and  the  Netherlands  went  down, 
about  two  per  cent  of  the  people  owned  practically  all  the 
wealth.  Are  we  not  hastening  to  the  same  end  ?  <Is  there  not  patri- 
otism, manhood  and  womanhood  enough  among  the  people  to  call  a 
halt  from  our  rulers  ? 

Let  the  brain  and  sinew  meet  at  the  Capitol  of  the  nation.  Let 
petitions  be  circulated  in  every  precinct  of  the  land  and  forwarded  to 
the  Convention,  until  the  voices  of  40,000,000  of  people  shall  resound 
in  the  ears  of  Congress  that  we  may  ascertain  whether  this  is  in  fact 
a  Government  of  the  people.  Our  demands  should  be  respectful  but 
firm.  No  written  credentials  will  be  required,  and  any  one  favoring 
the  objects  of  the  association  or  call  will  be  recognized  as  delegates. 
This  is  a  great  and  patriotic  task.  If  we  but  seek  divine  aid  and 
guidance  our  efforts  will  be  crowned  with  success." 

On  the  trial  of  this  gigantic  crime,   thus  charged, 
the  verdict  must  be  against  gold — Guilty. 

—70— 


To  show  this  transfer  of  silver's  value  to  gold,  a 
homely  illustration  will  suffice :  In  California  there  are 
a  definite  number  of  horses  and  a  certain  number  of 
mules  engaged  at  all  kinds  of  work  and  necessary  thereto . 
Could  the  horse  owners  secure  from  the  Legislature  a 
law  restricting  the  use  of  the  mules  or  entirely  prohib- 
iting their  labor,  does  not  every  one  know  the  immediate 
effect  would  be  to  make  the  horses  more  valuable?  They 
would  command  better  prices,  because  of  the  increased 
demand  for  their  capacities.  The  same  analogy  might 
be  supposed  between  wagons  and  railway  cars.  If  the 
former  were  forbidden,  cars  would  be  more  needed,  and 
freights  would  rise  to  "all  the  traffic  would  bear." 

All  the  money  in  the  country  is  needed.  If  by  a 
national  decree  all  were  destroyed  but  gold,  does  any 
thinker  not  know  that  the  latter  would  at  once,  owing 
to  its  increased  duties  for  exchange,  assume  greater 
value  in  purchasing  power,  and  substantially  appro- 
priate the  value  of  the  silver  and  paper  demonetized? 

This  conspiracy  of  the  leading  Christian  nations  is 
an  anamoly,  utterly  at  variance  with  all  moral  profes- 
sion. For  though  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  race,  they 
propose  at  this  time  to  blot  out  of  existence  for  humanity 
$4,042,700,000  and  destroy  its  accumulations  as  ex- 
pressed in  silver,  and  to  transfer  its  value  by  a  decree  of 
confiscation  to  gold  standing  at  $3,582,505,000— (Re- 
port of  Mint  Director,  August  1893.)  Theeffect  of  this 
is  to  increase  the  purchasing  power  of  gold  from  a  hun- 
dred to  five  hundred  per  cent.  Having  by  outside 
manipulation  lost  ownership  of  it,  the  weaker  and  more 
scattered  nations  are,  by  banking  coercion  and  political 
debauching,  to  be  made  vassals  of  the  international 
gold  syndicate. 

Can  morality  approve  such  spoliation  ?  Through 
all  the  ages  the  command  has  been  thundering,  "Love 
thy  neighbor,"  and  while  the  missionary  goes  out  to 
make  the  proclamation,  the  Christian  nations  through 

—71— 


their  money  laws  spit  on  the  message  and  set  up  hard 
money  images  for  the  listener's  idolatry.  Can  statecraft, 
for  stable  standards,  longer  depend  on  metals,  whose 
commodity  values  so  debacuh  whole  peoples,  and  lead 
to  the  death  of  all  ideas  of  honesty  ?  Can  the  imagina- 
tion picture  a  stronger  reason  for  their  overthrow  ?  It 
is  solely  dependent  upon  their  supply  that  all  values 
must  rest.  Likewise,  all  values  must  and  do  vary  with 
that  supply. 

If  chemistry  and  invention  could  gather  the  impal- 
pablyfine  gold  dust  that  sleeps  on  the  earth,  or  if  vastly 
richer  mines  could  be  found,  in  less  than  one  year  there- 
after, these  same  civilized,  praying,  immortality-hoping 
financiers  would  be  in  abject  lamentation,  and  kiss  the 
toe  of  the  money  Father  for  a  new  excommunication 
against  Gold.  It  would  then  be  seen  that  Silver  was 
the  only  true  measure  for  value,  and  God  would  receive 
new  Te  Deums  that  he  had  not  scattered  it  in  too  much 
negligence. 

This  gradual  demonetization  of  silver  shows  how- 
heartless  metallic  money  is.  It  is  quite  clear  how  and 
why  the  metallist  should  antagonize  a  paper  currency. 
But  that  Gold,  after  four  thousand  years  of  friendship, 
knit  together  through  a  myriad  struggles,  should  turn 
on  Silver  and  stab  it  in  the  dark,  is  a  picture  to  which 
the  future  historian  will  point  as  the  darkest  conquest 
of  modern  nations.  Poland  and  Ireland  may  stand 
weeping  and  for  sympathy,  but  greater  wrongs  than 
theirs  are  to-day  being  written  in  the  blood  of  many 
lands. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  world  has  been  at  peace, 
and  exempt  from  all  great  devastations  of  flood,  pesti- 
lence, fire  and  drouth,  and  science  has  made  numerous 
triumphs  over  nature  in  production  and  transportation, 
and  hence  tending  to  cheapen  all  things  material,  the 
nations  have  not  decreased  their  debts.  As  coral  islands 

—72- 


grow,  so  this  mountain  of  world  indebtedness  has  risen 
higher  in  the  last  twelve  years. 

Following  Spoftbrd,  for  1881  the  figures  were  $26,- 
757,899,396,  and  according  to  Geo.  F.  Plumbe  (statis- 
tician Chicago  Daily  News),  for  1893  they  were  $34,- 
456,574,000.  Here  is  an  ominous  portent — an  increase 
of  $7, 698,674,604.  Thus  a  false  system  has  exhibited 
its  viciousness  in  two  directions.  Regardless  of  increased 
labor  supply — more  men  and  improved  machinery — the 
debt  has  grown,  and  at  the  same  time  the  property  in 
existence,  though  perhaps  greater  in  quantity,  has  de- 
creased in  value,  measured  by  gold. 

Hence  the  world  stands  amazed  at  its  obligations. 
After  thirteen  years  of  remorseless  toil,  told  in  tears, 
written  in  blood,  it  finds  itself  deeper  in  despair.  This 
multiplying  debt,  this  diminishing  product,  like  some 
terrible  pestilence,  is  everywhere,  at  all  times,  in  all 
lands.  The  nations,  with  hardly  a  notable  exception, 
are  imposing  heavier  rates  of  taxation  on  labor  and  on 
industries,  to  raise  interest  money  to  pay  on  their 
debts.  Wages  have  fallen  to  the  point  of  bare  sub- 
sistance — the  pittance  given  by  masters  to  chattel 
slaves.  Above  this,  the  surplus  product  is  con- 
tributed to  the  bond  and  debt-holder  for  the  stately 
object  of  pampering  a  financial  nobility. 

How  has  this  knighting  of  the  garlanded  few  been 
accomplished?  By  the  nations,  to  a  large  extent,  strip- 
ping themselves  of  their  sovereignty  and  turning  it  to 
a  self-consecrated  priesthood  and  permitting  them  to 
make  metallic  money  in  their  own  interest  and  against 
the  prosperity  of  all  otheis  and  by  placing  in  their 
hands  the  dangerous  power  to  expand  or  contract  the 
volume  of  money,  as  may  suit  their  selfish  policy — this 
being  done  through  the  commodity  value  of  the  prec- 
ious metals.  It  was  a  keen  perception  of  the  effects  of 
this  power  that  brought  Hazzard  and  Seyd  to  America. 
They  well  knew  if  the  "greenbacks"  were  issued, — then 

—73— 


accursed  as  if  a  child  of  sin,  and  silver  were  "demone- 
tized," that  the  kingdom  of  Plutocracy  would  be 
further  fortified.  It  was  equivelant  to  the  disarma- 
ment of  two  strong  opponents.  It  was  the  secret 
massing  of  munitions  of  war,  to  be  used  for  cajoling 
Legislation,  and  holding  in  check  the  daring  thoughts 
of  labor,  by  decreeing  its  daily  compensation — and 
thereby  welding  the  chains  of  its  industrial  bondage. 

This  money  kingdom,  scorning  the  petty  lines  of 
nations,  was  to  embrace  all  tongues,  all  peoples,  all 
lands.  Has  its  dream  been  realized?  Yes.  On  yonder 
throne  of  gold  sits  the  king  with  the  earth  at  his  feet. 
There  "without  the  boast  of  heraldry  or  pomp  of 
power,"  is  the  one  whose  word  makes  rulers  tremble 
and  peoples  ''bend  the  knee."  Without  office  or  royal 
ancestry,  he  speaks  and  Senates  record  his  will  in 
statutes.  Without  command  he  declares  war  or  peace. 
Above  the  Vatican,  commanding  the  Kremlin,  touching 
the  Reichstag,  subordinating  queens,  ruling  presidents, 
this  man  writes  the  history  of  current  civilization.  He 
sways  the  destiny  of  more  human  beings  than  any  ten 
rulers  or  their  legislators.  He  reaches  out  his  hands 
and  sorrow  touches  millions  of  homes,  for  money  at 
his  word,  becomes  scarcer,  that  is  out  of  circulation, 
and  more  sacrifice  must  be  made  to  live.  He  sends 
out  the  dreaded  ukase,  and  banks  close,  manu- 
factories stop,  and  toil  offers  up  its  ceaseless 
prayer  for  work,  ever  seeing  starvation.  The 
man,  whose  potency  circles  the  globe,  rules  by  the 
"divine  right"  conferred  by  the  god,  "gold."  He  has 
gained  this  "bad  eminence,"  because  his  family ,  through 
values  falling  from  wars,  and  from  loans  and  interest, 
has  accumulated  the  most  collosal  fortune  of  modern 
times,  undoubtedly  reaching  hundred  of  millions,  and 
embodied  in  gold.  These  are  loaned  to  various  govern- 
ments. Thereby  they  become  his  puppets.  It  is  claimed 
that  he  owns  about  two  billions  of  Money — equal  to 

—74— 


one-fourth  of  all  the  money  known  in  the  world. 

Concentrated  by  intermarriage  and  commencing 
about  100  years  ago  the  Mayer  family  has  held  these 
millions  together  under  the  conquering  sign  of  the 
"Red  shield"— located  in  every  capital.  On  the  chess 
board  of  the  world  with  nations  as  pieces,  its  head 
plays  for  universal  supremacv — using  want  on  the  one 
hand  and  gold  on  the  other  hand.  Alexander  in  his 
unchecked  triumphs — Cassar  in  his  march  for  man's 
mastery— Napoleon  in  his  defiance  to  the  caste  of 
Europe,  were  warring  against  mere  men,  but  this 
modern  dictator — the  embodiment  of  a  cruel  system, — 
leads  his  armies  against  innocent  women,  helpless 
babes,  and  old  age,  hospitals,  churches,  and  schools- 
nothing  sacred  when  assaulted  by  the  myrmidons 
under  his  black  flag.  His  ministers  in  all  zones  obey 
his  behests  and  by  the  cohesiveness  of  self-interest  to 
him  remain  loyal,  forgetting  creeds,  annihilating  dis- 
tance and  discarding  nationality. 

Swing  the  censers,  0,  gold  worshippers,  at  the  feet 
of  your  master,  Rothschild — autocrat  of  the  world  by 
reason  of  metal  money — but  rest  assured  that  despite 
the  anger  of  his  omnipotence  the  bard  of  truth  will  yet 
sing  of  him — 

"  Purity,  Justice  and  Freedom,  he  has  made  of  our  homes  their  graves, 
And  planted  within  our  children  the  seed  of  a  race  of  slaves- 
Slaves  in  the  rich  man's  mansion,  slaves  in  the  poor  man's  home, 
Slaves  in  the  senate  chamber,  a  slave  of  slaves  on  the  throne ; 
Slaves  in  the  halls  of  learning,  slaves  at  the  helm  of  State, 
And  helpless  slaves  of  labor  in  the  helpless  markets  wait. 
Thought -fettered  press  and  platform,  selling  truth  for  bread, 
And  worse  than  slaves  in  the  pulpit,  profaning  the  noble  dead." 

The  pendulum  of  Time  swung  off  the  dark  and  crime- 
laden  years  from  1873  to  1893,  each  in  turn  marking 
more  ruined  industries,  more  closed  banks,  more  business 
failures,  more  mortgage  foreclosures,  and  each  year 
closing  with  the  spectacle  that  to  open  a  palace  for  one 

—75— 


millionaire,  it  was  only  necessary  to  close  or  tear  down 
a  thousand  homes  and  turn  their  inmates  to  the  freedom 
of  trampdom.  But  the  relentless  purpose  of  further 
aggrandizement  nestled  in  the  soul  of  the  gold-master. 
So  in  the  last  decade  in  turn,  like  an  octopus  of  finance, 
he  clutched  Egypt,  Australia,  New  Zealand,  Argentine, 
Peru,  Chile,  and  others,  and  crushed  them  in  debt  until 
their  credit  failed  and  panics  ensued. 

From  his  throne,  in  1893,  the  master  looked  East 
and  West,  and  the  very  earth  quaked.  Once  more  his 
orders  ran  to  waiting  subordinates.  One  flashed  to 
India,  with  its  population  of  288,000,000.  Its  money 
circulation  was  $3.64  per  capita,  and  embraced  $28,- 
000,000  of  uncovered  paper  and  $900,000,000  in  silver. 
In  1891  it  coined  in  gold  $117,411,  and  in  silver  $32,- 
670,498.  The  former  was  not  a  factor  in  its  system, 
for  silver  had  been  its  sole  money  for  all  the  recorded 
centuries.  Of  all  countries,  India  held  it  most  in  rever- 
ence as  a  very  part  of  her  national  soul — a  precious  in- 
heritance of  ancient  days.  But  for  the  purpose  of 
adding  that  much  more  to  the  vastly  increasing  buying 
power  of  gold,  its  advocates  without  remorse,  brought 
ruin  to  these  defenseless  millions,  and  by  a  decree  confis- 
cated their  property  as  stored  in  silver.  The  worst 
feature  of  this  demonetization  was  that  it  involved  a 
change  of  the  nation's  policy,  and  was  effected,  not  by 
the  Indian  people  themselves  by  their  own  legislative 
forms,  but  by  the  dictate  of  a  Privy  Council,  only  owing 
responsibility  to  England.  Without  benefit  to  the.  coun- 
try, and  against  its  wish,  there  was  a  vast  political  act, 
enacted  at  the  instigation  of  one  metal  owner,  to  cripple 
or  destroy  the  wealth  of  the  owners  of  the  other  metal. 
So  mystic  India  passed  under  the  galling  yoke  of  Eng- 
land's gold  oligarchy. 

To  the  United  States  an  order  also  came,  calling  for 
action.  Prompted  by  the  spirit  of  Hazzard  and  Buell, 
a  circular  was  issued  March  12,  1893,  by  the  American 

—76- 


Bankers  Association  to  all  National  Banks : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :— The  interests  of  national  bankers  require  immediate 
financial  legislation  by  Congress.  Silver,  silver  certificates  and  treas- 
ury notes  must  be  retired,  and  national  bank  notes  upon  a  gold  basis 
made  the  only  money.  This  will  require  the  authorization  of  from 
$500,000,000  to  $1,000,000,000  of  new  bonds  as  a  basis  of  circula- 
tion. You  will  at  once  retire  one-third  of  your  circulation  and  call  in 
one-naif  of  your  loans.  Be  careful  to  make  a  money  stringency  frit 
among  your  patrons,  especially  among  influential  business  men. 
Advocate  an  extra  session  of  Congress  for  the  repeal  of  the  purchasing 
clause  of  the  Sherman  law  and  act  with  the  other  banks  of  your  city 
in  securing  a  large  petition  to  Congress  for  its  unconditional  repeal, 
as  per  accompanying  form.  Use  personal  influence  with  Congressmen 
and  particularly  let  your  wishes  be  known  to  your  senators.  The 
future  life  of  National  Banks  as  fixed  and  safe  investments,  depends 
upon  immediate  action,  as  there  is  an  increasing  sentiment  in  favor 
of  government  legal  tender  notes  and  silver  coinage." 

Here  again  is  the  same  old  dominant  intention  to 
"control  legislation."  It  must  be  had  in  favor  of  one 
metal — gold — and  against  the  other — silver.  How  is  it  to 
be  effected  ?  By  the  one  ever  omnipotent  method — con- 
tractio.n.  This  policy  made  a  lasting  testimonial  in  the 
fact  that  the  National  Banks,  from  May  4th  to  July 
12,  1893,  called  in  $136,000,000  of  their  loans,  retir- 
ing also  jmmense  sums  of  their  notes.  In  the  same 
time  every  bank  in  the  United  States  locked  up  its  gold 
and  would  not  part  with  it  even  for  Bonds. 

The  most  astounding  spectacle!  Clamoring  for 
these  solemn  promises  to  pay  for  thirty  woeful  years 
and  yet  these  same  patriotic  Banks  would  not  recog- 
nize a  Government  Bond  as  a  good  security  for  the  loan 
of  their  gold .  No  lover  ever  gazed  on  his  sweetheart  with 
more  idolatry,  no  devotee  ever  revered  his  relic  with- 
more  veneration,  110  soldier  ever  touched  a  weapon 
with  more  confidence,  no  miser  ever  gloated  over  his 
treasures  with  more  avarice,  than  this  Banker  did  for 
his  gold,  as  he  stood  at  his  counter  and  safely  saw  the 
money  Famine  strike  with  death  the  whole  land. 
When  business  was  prostrate,  labor  idle  in  rags,  and 
the  press  demoralized  in  its  utterances,  he  was  in  his 
supreme  triumph — for  these  were  the  means  by  which 

—77— 


he  was  moulding  public  opinion  to  force  Congress  to 
enact  his  demands,  debase  silver  further,  issue  more 
bonds  and  appreciate  gold.  Money  was  not  scarce. 
But  in  greater  quantities  than  ever  known  before,  it 
was  in  those  vaults,  guarded  by  steel,  watched  by 
arms,  protected  by  legislation,  sanctified  by  a  fanatical 
reverence  for,  and  absurd  worship  of  coin, — specie. 
True  to  the  letter  of  a  national  platform,  but  false  to 
its  Spirit,  Congress  obsequiously  struck  another  blow 
at  silver,  tending  to  its  ultimate  debasement.  At 
whose  command?  No  party  had  demanded  it  in  its 
platform.  At  whose  instigation?  The  People  by  an 
overwhelming  voice  were  against  contraction. 

There  is  but  one  answer  to  these  questions  and  it 
is  forever  firmly  fixed  in  the  adamant  of  history.  It 
was  the  merciless,  godless,  cruel  and  infamous  war  of 
gold  on  silver.  For  as  the  latter  fell  in  price,  the  other 
rose.  The  verification  of  which  is  found  in  the  ratio 
between  them,  standing  from  1800  to  1872  at  15.68 
and  thereafter  slowly  rising  under  adverse  legislation 
to  23.72  in  1892  and  on  September  30,  1893  to  25.97. 
In  nine  months  the  advance  was  2.25  in  favor  of  the 
yellow  metal, — a  pure  act  of  legislative  confiscation. 
By  the  same  baneful  decree  in  twenty  years,  gold  had 
so  appreciated  in  value  that  one  ounce  of  it  in  Septem- 
ber, 1893,  was  worth  25.97  ounces  of  silver — having 
gained  10.29  ounces  in  that  period.  This  increased 
value  came  from  speculative  legislation  and  from  no 
other  sources.  What  a  commentary  upon  the  morals 
of  a  people,  who  by  official  action  deliberately  take 
property  from  one  class  of  citizens  and  bestow  it  as  a 
pure  gift  upon  another  class. 

Is  a  system  just  that  permits  such  a  distinction? 
Does  a  law  harmonize  with  Christianity  that  allows 
such  robbery?  If  a  gold  owner  took  by  force  10.29 
ounces  of  silver  from  its  owner  it  would  be  a  felony.  Is 
it  less  so,  measured  by  logic  or  ethics,  if  he  corruptly 

—78— 


secures  a  Congressional  Act  authorizing  him  to  com- 
mit the  same  specific  crime? 

Americans — Study  the  unfolding  cycles  of  our  civil- 
ization. Look  backward  :  for  Liberty  has  fought  many 
a  battle  for  you,  though  then  unborn.  In  yon  arena 
there  stands  the  Christian — devoted  to  fagot,  or 
sword  or  beast.  A  little  later  in  time  the  Jew  suffers 
till  he  wears  the  martyr's  crown  There  sinks  down 
the  faithful  Mohammedan,  beneath  oppression's  strokes. 
While  the  ages  roll  on,  the  pious  Catholic,  as  heretic 
charged,  consecrates  his  faith  on  wheel,  or  rots  in 
dungeon.  Here,  at  that  stake,  bound  by  his*  fellow 
dissenter,  is  chained  a  Protestant,  who,  amid  flames, 
attests  his  right  to  think  and  robes  himself  in  immoral- 
ity. Thus,  for  eighteen  centuries,  the  right  for  free 
thought  and  free  worship  and  free  action  has  battled 
and  at  least  won  partial  triumphs.  It  has  not  mat- 
tered, whether  Christian,  Jew,  Mohammedan,  Catholic 
or  Protestant  has  suffered  for  his  faith,  or  turned 
oppressor  of  his  neighbor's  creed,  Liberty  has  fought 
that  every  man  might  walk  the  earth  erect,  with 
nothing  between  him  and  his  God.  It  was  for 
the  establishment  of  this  sublime  doctrine  of  Man's 
self-ownership,  that  Jefferson  asked  his  State  to  let 
him  free  his  slaves.  From  the  impulse  of  this 
divine  principle,  Lincoln  declared:  "I  admit  man  is 
competent  to  govern  himself,  but  I  deny  his  right 
to  govern  any  other  person  without  that  other 
person's  consent."  At  another  time,  speaking  of  the 
slave  and  obedient  to  economic  Justice,  he  said : 
"In  the  right  to  eat  the  bread,  without  the  leave 
of  anybody  else,  which  his  own  hand  earns,  he  is 
my  equal  and  the  equal  of  every  living  man."  Moved 
by  the  inspiration  born  of  all  these  struggles  in  the  ages, 
and  in  deep  consciousness  of  what  is  true  fame,  the 
older  patriot  himself  might  well  put  forward  as  his  own 
noblest  achievements,  more  .enduring  than  monumental 

—79— 


stone,  the  three  facts,  which  are  said  to  be  in  letters  cut 
upon  his  tomb:  ''Here  lies  Thomas  Jefferson,  Author 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Father  of  the  Statu  te 
for  religious  freedom,  and  Founder  of  the  University  of 
Virginia" — thus  constituting  the  Trinity:  Freedom  of 
body,  soul  and  mind: 

Now,  fellow  citizen,  turn  to  this  day.  All  the  mise- 
ries of  these  long  ages  of  wrong  are  surpassed  in  this 
concentrated  effort  of  Money  to  shackle  humanity. 
The  Autocrats  of  Wall  and  Lombard  streets,  to  point 
out  the  blessings  of  a  single  standard,  have  put  every 
citizen  upon  the  financial  rack,  and  call  for  his  profession 
of  lo}ralt}r  to  the  Supreme  Master  of  Gold — Rothschild. 
The  dynamic  force  of  that  diabolic  rack  is  felt  through- 
out the  world  ;  in  untilled  fields,  empty  shop,  silent  fac- 
tory, bankrupt  business,  broken  railroads,  and  all 
industries  stilled;  and  all  done  by  one  metal  money 
against  the  other  metal  money.  The  movement  thus 
inaugurated  has  culminated  in  the  crime  so  graphically 
described  by  John  G.  Carlysle,  as  Representative,  Feb. 
21,  1978: 

"I  know  that  the  world's  stock  of  precious  metals  is  none  too 
large  and  I  see  no  reason  to  apprehend  that  it  will  ever  become  so. 
Mankind  w^ll  be  fortunate  indeed  if  the  annual  production  of  gold 
and  silver  coin  shall  keep  pace  with  the  annual  increase  of  population, 
commerce  and  industry.  According-  to  ray  views  of  the  subject,  the 
conspiracy^  which  seems  to  have  been  formed  here  and  in  Europe  to 
destroy  by  legislation  and  otherwise  from  three-sevenths  to  one-half 
of  the  metallic  money  of  the  world,  is  the  most  gigantic  crime  of  this 
or  an  other  age.  The  consummation  of  such  a  scheme  would  ulti- 
mately entail  more  misery  upon  the  human  race  than  all  the  wars, 
pestilences  and  famines  that  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
The  absolute  and  instantaneous  destruction  of  half  the  entire  mova- 
ble property  of  the  world,  including  houses,  ships,  railroads,  and  all 
other  appliances  for  candying  on  commerce,  while  it  would  be  felt  more 
sensibly  at  the  moment,  woiild  not  produce  anything  like  the  pro- 
longed distress  and  disorganization  of  society  that  jrnust  inevitably 
result  from  the  permanent  annihilation  of  the"  metallic  money  of  the 
world." 

An  amazing  transformation  has  been  wrought  in 
the  mind  of  the  same  statesman,  since  in  1893  he  aids 

—80— 


in  the  '  'disorganization  of  society"  and  helps  to  "entail 
more  misery"  than  "wars,  pestilences  and  famines" 
have  caused.  The  yellow-haired  syren  wooed  him  to  this 
apostacy.  At  her  smile,  instead  of  issuing  $50,000,000 
legal  tender  notes,  he  issues  $50,000,000  of  bonds 
and  decrees  that  Americans  shall  pay  more  than  $25,- 
000,000  of  interest  thereon  and  still  owe  the  principal. 
The  inflamed  Toombs  swore  he  would  count  his 
blacks  at  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  and  failed; 
but  Carlysle  has  listed  the  Americans  as  his  slaves  and 
counted  them  in  Wall  Street.  The  blacks  were  once 
owned — the  whites  are  now  owned. 


Some  of  the  political  aspects  of  the  metallic  money 
system  have  been  set  forth  in  the  pages  immediately 
preceding.  It  is  believed  that  no  candid  and  intelligent 
mind,  asking  only  for  truth  and  justice,  can  investigate 
the  question,  without  coming  inevitably  to  the  convic- 
tion that  the  metallic  system  is  antagonistic  to  the  good 
of  the  people,  and  that  for  the  reasons  given  and  sug- 
gested in  the  three  foregoing  heads,  classified  as  the 
"economic,"  "legal"  ^nd  "political,"  should  at  once 
be  abolished. 

But  the  abolition  of  the  specie  plan  involves  the 
substitution  of  something  better.  What  is  it?  The 
remainder  of  this  argument  shall  be  devoted  to  its  expo- 
sition. 

For  fear  of  a  varying  standard,  the  States,  by 
the  Constitution,  are  forbidden  to  "coin  money,"  "emit 
bills  of  credit,"  "make  anything  but  gold  and  silver 
coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts,"  and  therefore  the 
whole  jurisdiction  over  the  currency  is  exclusively  exer- 
cised by  the  United  States. 

The  National  Constitution  says:  "The  Congress 
shall  have  power  *  *  to  coin  money,  to  regulate 
the  value  thereof  and  of  foreign  coins."  Under  these 

—SI— 


seventeen  commonplace  words  the  finances  of  this  gov- 
ernment are  fashioned. 

The  position  is  boldly  assumed  that  the  true  and 
philosophic  construction  of  this  power  is,  that  a.  currency 
without  a  commodity  value  is  the  only  one  that  can  be 
issued  equal  to  all  emergencies.  For  a  lucid  view  of  such 
a  currency,  the  solemn,  patriotic  and  revered  dead  may 
speak : 

Franklin  said : 

"No  methods  have  been  hitherto  formed  to  establish  a  medium  of 
trade  equal  in  all  respects  to  its  bills  of  credit  made  a  legal  tender." 

Jefferson  wrote,  Sept.  11,  1813: 

"Bank  paper  must  be  suppressed,  and  the  circulating  medium 
must  be  restored  to  the  nation,  to  whom  it  belongs ;  it  is  the  only  re- 
source which  can  never  fail  them,  and  it  is  an  abundant  one  for  every 
necessary  purpose.  Treasury  bills,  bottomed  on  taxes,  bearing  or  not 
bearing  interest,  as  may  be  found  necessary,  thrown  into  circulation, 
will  take  the  place  of  so  much  gold  and  silver,  which  last,  when 
crowded,  will  find  an  afflux  into  other  countries,  and  thus  keep  up  the 
quantum  medium  at  its  salutary  level." 

Calhoun,  in  1837,  declared  : 

"That  a  paper  issued  by  the  Government,  with  simple  promise  to 
receive  it  for  all  duties  would  form  a  perfect  paper  circulation  which 
could  not  be  abused  by  the  Government ;  that  it  would  be  as  uniform 
in  value  as  the  metals  themselves ;  and  I  shall  be  able  to  prove  that 
it  is  within  the  power  of  Congress  to  use  such  a  paper  according  to 
the  most  rigid  rules  of  construing  the  Constitution." 

Clay  affirmed : 

' '  Whatever  the  Government  agrees  to  receive  in  pay ment  of  the 
public  dues  is  money,  no  matterwhat  its  form  may  be,  treasury  notes, 
drafts,  etc.  Such  bills  or  paper,  issued  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  are  money." 

To  these  declarations  may  be  added  the  happy 
words  of  a  living  thinker : 

"The  Government  should  have  no  money  but  its  own  Treasury 
notes,  issued  to  the  extent  of  its  annual  requirements  for  revenue, 
receivable  in  payment  of  its  taxes  in  all  forms,  and  made  legal  tender 
in  the  course  of  business,  on  an  equality  with  the  kind  of  money  in 
which  such  taxes  are  levied.  This  would  do  away  with  all  struggles 
for  business  advantages  to  debtors  and  creditors  and  mine  owners, 
by  the  alternate  contraction  and  inflation  of  currency  through  acts 
of  Congress.  It  would  do  away  with  the  periodical  appeals  on  the 
part  of  business,  this  year  to  contract  the  currency  in  order  to 

—82— 


strengthen  securities  and  strengthen  confidence  in  the  stability  of  our 
money ;  next  year  to  inflate  the  currency  in  order  to  afford  a  sufficient 
circulating  medium  to  meet  the  requirement  of  commerce."—; Judge 
J.  G.  Maguire,  Congress,  August  23,  1893. 

In  deepest  philosophy,  Mr.  T.  V.  Cator  recently 
said  in  a  speech : 

"  Money  is  like  railroads,  a  mere  implement  of  exchange.  Scien- 
tifically it  ought  not  to  be  a  commodity.  As  it  is  a  mere  medium  to 
effect  exchanges,  its  volume  should  be  regulated  with  reference  to  the 
value  of  products  in  course  of  each  exchange.  This  could  never  be 
done  by  taking  a  commodity  of  extremely  limi.ed  volume  in  nature, 
like  gold  or  silver,  and  stamping  it  as  money." 

**  Money,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  exchanges,  may  be  whatever 
sovereign  power  determines,  providied-  it  prohibits  all  other  legal 
tender." 

These  definitions  are  in  harmony  with  the  profound- 
est  insight  into  our  organic  Act,  expressed  by  Chief 
Justice  Marshall : 

"The  United  States  is  a  Government,  and  consequently  a  body 
politic  and  corporate,  capable  of  attaining  the  objects  for  which  it 
was  created,  by  the  means  necesssary  for  their  attainment.  This 
great  corporation  was  ordained  and  established  by  the  American 
people,  and  endowed  by  them  with  great  powers  for  important  pur- 
poses. Its  powers  are  unquestionably  limited ;  but  within  those 
limits  it  is  as  perfect  a  government  as  any  other,  having  all  the  facul- 
ties and  properties  belonging  to  a  government,  with  a  perfect  right 
to  use  them  freely,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  object  of  its  institution." 

Now,  the  Constitution  committed  the  Finance  power 
solely  to  Congress,  and  to  execute  this  trust,  authorized 
it4 'To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  foregoing  powers, 
and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  department 
or  officer  thereof. ' ' 

Xo  wonder  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court  said  in  Mc- 
Culloch  vs.  Md.,  4  Wheaton,  421 : 

"We  admit,  as  all  must  admit,  that  the  powers  of  the  Government 
are  limited,  and  that  its  limits  are  not  to  be  transcended.  But  we 
think  the  sound  construction  of  the  Constitution  must  allow  to  the 
National  Legislature  that  discretion  with  respect  to  the  means  by 
which  the  powers  it  confers  are  to  be  carried  into  execution,  which 
will  enable  that  body  to  perform  the  high  duties  assigned  to  it  in  the 
manner  most  beneficial  to  the  people.  Let  the  end  be  legitimate,  let 
it  be  within  the  scope  of  the  Constitution,  and  all  means  which  are 

—83— 


appropriate,  which  are  plainly  adapted  to  that  end,  which  are  not 
prohibited,  but  consistent  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, are  constitutional." 

The  same  Court  has  dealt  in  many  cases  with  the 
issuance  and  validity  of  a  paper  currency.  In  Julliard 
vs.  Greenman,  110  U.  S.  Reports,  page  421,  it  finally 
rendered  a  decision,  covering  the  whole  subject,  and 
standing  to-day  as  its  last  and  exclusive  exposition 
thereon. 

The  facts  are  briefly  stated,  The  plaintiff  in  New 
York  had  sold  to  defendant  100  bales  of  cotton  for 
cash,  $5,122.90.  Defendant  offered  in  payment  $22.90 
in  coin  and  two  legal  tender  notes — $5000  and  $100. 
The  cffer  was  declined  and  suit  brought  to  enforce  coin 
payment.  The  sole  question  was — could  Congress  make 
a  paper  note  equal  to  gold  and  silver  in  paying  a  debt? 
The  decision,  written  by  Justice  Gray,  was  made  March 
3,  1884,  by  a  full  Court  (Field  alone  dissenting).  It 
says  in  certain  parts : 

The  power  "to  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States," 
is  the  power  to  raise  money  for  the  public  use  on  a  pledge  of  the  pub- 
lic credit,  and  may  be  exercised  to  meet  either  present  or  anticipated 
expenses  and  liabilities  of  the  government.  It  includes  the  power  to 
issue,  in  return  for  the  money  borrowed,  the  obligations  of  the  United 
States  in  any  appropriate  form,  of  stock,  bonds,  bills  or  notes;  and 
in  whatever  form  they  are  issued,  being  instruments  of  the  National 
Government,  they  are  exempt  from  taxation  by  the  governments  of 
the  several  States.  Weston  vs.  Charleston,  2  Pet.  449;  Banks  vs. 
Mayor,  7  \Va11.  ^6  (74  U.  S.  XIX,  57) ;  Bank  vs.  Supervisors.  7  Wall. 
26  (74  U.  S.  XIX,  60)  Congress  has  authority  to  issue  these  obliga- 
tions in  n  form  adapted  to  circulate  from  hand  to  hand  in  the  ordinary 
transactions  of  commerce  and  business." 

#«**««***« 

"The  Constitutional  authority  of  Congress  to  provide  a  currency 
for  the  whole  country  is  now  firmly  established.  In  Veazie  Bank  vs. 
Fenno,  Chief  Justice  Chase  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  Court,  said: 
"It  cannot  be  doubted  that  uuder  the  Constitution  the  power  to 
provide  a  circulation  of  coin  is  given  to  Congress.  And  it  is  settled 
by  the  uniform  practice  of  the  government  and  by  repeated  decisions, 
that  Congress  may  constitutionally  authorize  the  emission  of  bills  of 

credit." 

********** 

"By  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  several  States  are 
prohibited  irorn  coining  money,  emitting  bills  of  credit,  or  making 

—84— 


anything  but  gold  and  silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of.  debts.    But 
no  intention  can  be  inferred  from  this  to  deny  to  Congress  either  of 

these  powers." 

*  ********* 

"It  appears  to  us  to  follow,  as  a  logical  necessary  consequence 
that  Congress  has  the  power  to  issue  the  obligations  of  the  United 
States  in  such  form  and  to  impress  upon  them  such  qualities  as  cur- 
rency for  the  purchase  of  merchandise  and  the  pax-ment  of  debts,  as 
accord  with  the  usage  of  sovereign  governments.  The  power — as  in- 
cident to  the  power  of  borrowing  money,  and  of  issuing  bills  or  notes 
of  the  government  for  money  borrowed — of  impressing  upon  those 
bills  or  notes  the  quality  of  being  a  legal  tender  for  the  pa3rment  of 
private  debts,  was  a  power  universally  understood  to  belong  to  sov- 
ereignty in  Europe  and  America,  at  the  time  of  framing  and  adoption 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  The  governments  of  Europe, 
acting  through  the  monarch  or  legislature,  according  to  the  distribu- 
tion of  powers  under  their  respective  constitutions,  had  and  have  as 
soversign,  a  power  of  issuing  paper  money  as  of  stamping  coin.  This 
power  has  been  distinctly  recognized  in  an  important  modern  case, 
ably  argued  and  fully  considered,  in  which  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  as 
King  of  Hungary,  obtained  from  the  English  Court  of  Chancery  an 
injunction  against  the  issue  in  England  without  his  license,  of  notes 
purporting  to  be  public  paper  money  of  Hnngary.  Austria  vs.  Day, 
2  Giff.  628,  and  3  DeG.  F.,  and  J.,  217.  The  power  of  issuing  bills  of 
credit  and  making  them,  at  the  discretion  of  the  legislature,  a  tender 
in  payment  of  private  debts,  had  lon^  been  exercised  in  this  country 
by  the  several  Colonies  and  States;  and  during  the  Revolutionary 
War  the  States,  upon  the  recommendation  of  Congress  of  the  Confed- 
eration, had  made  the  bills  issued  bv  Congress  a  legal  tender.  See 
Craig  vs.  Mo.  4  Pet.  435,  453;  Briscoe  vs.  Bank  of  Ky.  II  Pet.  257, 
313,  334,  336;  Legal  Tender  Cases,  12  Wall.  557,  558,  622  (79  U.  S. 
XX,  335);  Phillips  American  Currency,  passim.  The  exercise  of  this 
power  not  being  prohibited  to  Congress  by  the  Constitution,  it  is  in- 
cluded in  the  power  expressly  granted,  to  borrow  money  on  the  credit 

of  the  United  States." 

********** 

"  We  are  irresistably  impelled  to  the  conclusion  that  the  impress- 
ing upon  the  treasury  notes  of  the  United  States  the  quality  of  being 
a  legal  tender  in  payment  of  private  debts  is  an  appropriate  means, 
conducive  and  plainly  adapted  to  the  execution  of  the  undoubted 
powers  of  Congress,  consistent  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Con- 
stitution, and  therefore  within  the  meaning  of  that  instrument, 
'  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the  powers  vested 
by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United  States.' 

"Such  beingour  conclusion  in  matter  of  law,  the  question  whether 
at  any  particular  time,  in  war  or  in  peace,  the  exigency  is  such,  by 
reason  of  unusual  and  pressing  demands  on  the  resoueces  of  the  gov- 
ernment, or  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  supply  of  gold  and  silver  coin  to 
furnish  the  currency  needed  for  the  use  of  this  government  and  of  the 
people,  that  it  is,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  wise  and  expedient  to  resort  to 
this  means,  is  a  political  question,  to  be  determined  by  Congress  when 

—85— 


the  exigency  arises,  and  not  a  judicial  question,  to  be  afterwards 
passed  upon  by  the  Courts." 

These  very  extended  quotations  show  how  Congress 
is  vested  with  full  authority  in  the  premises  as  to  cur- 
rency, and  beyond  the  control  of  the  Courts,  should  it 
demonetize  both  gold  and  silver,  and  rely  solely  on 
"paper?" 

Justice  Field  signified  his  coin  idolatry,  and  con- 
densed the  strongest  possible  argument  against  paper 
currency,  when  he  closed  his  dissenting  opinion  in  these 
words : 

"From  this  decision  of  the  Court  I  see  only  evil  likely  to  follow. 
There  have  been  times  within  the  memory  of  all  of  us,  when  the  legal 
tender  notes  of  the  United  States  were  not  exchangeable  for  more 
than  one-half  of  their  nominal  value.  The  possibility  of  such  depreci- 
ation will  always  attend  paper  money.  This  inborn  infirmity  no 
mere  legislative  declaration  can  cure.  If  Congress  has  the  power  to 
make  the  notes  a  legal  tender  and  to  pass  as  money  or  its  equivalent, 
why  should  not  a  sufficient  amount  be  issued  to  pay  the  bonds  of  the 
United  States  as  they  mature  ?  Why  pay  interest  on  the  millions  of 
dollars  of  bonds  now  due,  when  Congress  can  in  one  day  make  the 
money  to  pay  the  principal  ?  And  why  should  there  be  any  restraint 
upon  unlimited  appropriations  by  the  government  for  all  imaginary 
schemes  of  public  improvement,  if  the  printing  press  can  furnish  the 
money  that  is  needed  for  them." 

These  lines  raise  several  objections  to  such  notes  : 

1st.    Their  past  depreciation  is  a  portent  of  evil. 

2nd.  The  possibility  of  their  depreciation  is  ever 
attendant. 

3rd.    Their  inherent  infirmity  is  beyond  legislation. 

4th.  If  issued,  these  notes  could  be  used  to  pay 
bonds,  stop  interest  and  inaugurate  public  improve- 
ments. 

5th.  Let  the  Printing  Press  be  "anathema,"  or  in 
the  more  classical  and  graphic  euphony  of  a  Money 
Prince  in  speaking  of  sovereign  rights  "Let  the  People 
be  damned." 

The  falacy  of  these  propositions  may  be  shown: 
First.     "Their  past  depreciation  is  a  portent  of  evil." 

—86— 


That  evil  must  follow,  is  an  assumption  purely 
gratuitous.  No  single  civilized  nation  has  yet  tried  the 
experiment  of  a  paper  currency  solely  and  thus  proven 
the  falsity  of  its  claim  to  surpassing  excellencies.  There- 
fore nothing  in  history  can  be  found  for  such  a  declara- 
tion. The  prophecy  is  without  inspiration  from  any 
fact.  But  instead  of  history  being  an  argument  against 
paper  currency,  it  is  the  most  eloquent  ad vocate  thereof, 
speaking  from  the  impressiveness  of  its  past  triumphs. 
Although  there  are  many  instances  where  " paper"  has 
been  issued  as  mone}',  only  a  few  will  be  noted  here : 

Queen  Catharine,  of  Russia,  in  1770,  in  her  war  with 
the  Turks,  for  a  while  relied  on  copper  and  silver;  but 
only  gained  success  by  creating  paper  money  equal  in 
amount  to  her  needs.  % 

From  1797  to  1823,  England  issued  " paper"  and 
according  to  the  historian,  Allison,  reached,  her  greatest 
prosperity,  notwithstanding  the  drain  of  a  great  war. 

In  1813  Russia,  Prussia  and  England  issued  their 
joint  "paper," and  by  its  omnipotence  conquered  Napo- 
leon. Their  coin  led  them  to  defeat,  but  their  "paper" 
carried  them  to  victory.  Why?  Because  at  home  it 
set  all  industries  at  work,  facilitating  exchanges,  by  its 
rolume  and  thus  supplied  the  munitions  of  war. 

In  1848,  on  the  abdication  of  Louis  Phillippe,  France 
was  in  great  distress  for  money,  as  everything  was 
prostrated.  Through  the  Bank  of  France  the  Govern- 
ment issued  $600,000,000  legal  tender  notes  and 
brought  immediate  prosperity  to  all.  Instead  of  losing 
coin,  it  flowed  in  until  it  reached  $1,200,000,000,  and 
"France  was  better  off  financially  than  any  other  na- 
tion on  earth." 

"The  financial  experience  of  France  in  1870  and  1871  was  similar 
to  that  of  1848  and  1849.  In  these  years  France  was  conquered  by 
Germany  and  compelled  to  surrender  to  Germany  two  of  her  most 
valuable  provinces  and  pay  $1,100,000,000.  The  contract  was  that 
German  troops  should  remain  on  French  soil  until  the  greater  part  of 
the  debt  was  paid.  The  Bank  and  the  country  were  in  much  worse 

—87— 


condition  than  in  1848.  But  the  French  remembered  the  success 
which  had  attended  their  financial  policy  in  1848,  and  they  adopted 
it  in  1870  and  1871.  They  stopped  the  flow  of  coin  from  the  Bank 
by  making  the  notes  full  legal  tender  and  b3T  increasing  the  circulation 
some  $200,000,000.  The  result  was  the  same  as  in  1848.  All  the 
industries  of  the  country  were  put  into  active  operation.  The  people 
were  actively  employed,  The  money  of  the  country  was  diffused 
among  the  people  and  in  the  business  of  the  country.  The  notes  of 
the  Bank  were  at  par  with  coin.  France  sold  to  Germany  enough 
manufactured  articles  to  pay  three-fourths  of  the  debt  to  Germany. 
The  financial  policy  is  still  continued  by  the  French.  The  French 
have  what  is  called  an  irredeemable  currency,  which  is  par  with  coin, 
because  the  law  makes  it  so.  and  because  it  is  by  law  made  receivable 
for  everything  for  which  coin  is  receivable.  The  Bank  of  France  now 
has  some  $450,000,000  coin,  which  exceeds  that  of  any  other  bank 
in  the  world,  and  is  double  that  of  all  the  banks  in  England.  There 
are  to-day  fully  $1,500,000,000  coin  in  the  nation.  But  the  Bank 
does  not  profess  to  pay  coin.  Coin  is  not  wanted  by  the  people." — 
Warwick  Martin,  "Money  of  Nations,"  1880. 

But  let  the  examination  be  confined  to  this  country. 


At  the  end  of  the  Revolution  and  before  the  Constitution, 
North  Carolina  issued  $500,000  legal  tender  Treasury 
notes  and  received  them  for  taxes.  They  were  for 
twenty  years  at  par  with  coin,  during  their  return  to 
the  State  Treasury.  So  declared  Calhoun  in  the  U.  S. 
Senate. 

In  1690,  1703, 1712, 1717  and  1720  Massachusetts 
issued  her  Treasury  Notes,  entirely  independent  of  coin 
and  resting  on  Public  credit.  Being  the  money  of  ac- 
count and  legal  tender,  their  value  was  not  affected  by 
the  variations  of  coin.  She  was  prosperous,  and  when 
her  "farmers  fired  the  shot  heard  around  the  world," 
she  was  out  of  debt  and  ready  with  her  invincible  free- 
men to  delend  Liberty,  though  uat  the  canon's  mouth." 

Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Maryland, 
Delaware,  Virginia  and  South  Carolina  insured  their 
colonial  prosperity  by  legal  tender  Treasury  notes — 
those  having  most  in  circulation  being  most  happy  in 
morals,  prepared  in  men  and  prompt  to  repel  tyranny. 
In  order  to  render  the  people  more  subservient  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament  declared  these  notes  void  as  money. 

—88— 


They  were  the  decrees  of  freemen,  hence  they  were  fit 
objects  of  monarchy's  hate. 

A  crash  touched  England  in  1733  and  the  Bank  of 
England  suspended.  The  coin  of  the  Pennsylvania  Col- 
ony was  wanted  for  resumption  and  was  transferred 
for  that  end  to  the  mother  country.  To  recall  it,  the 
local  laws  of  Pennsylvania  increasing  its  value  were 
passed  without  success.  In  this  destitute  condition  the 
Colony,  calling  out  the  reserved  energy  of  its  people, 
created  a  paper  currency.  For  all  these  years  these  notes 
remained  equal  to  coin.  They  rested  on  the  sovereign 
decree  of  the  Government,  and  being  received  for  taxes 
they  discharged  every  function  of  metallic  money,  until 
1763  the  Crown  declared  them  void. 

It  is  no  wonder,  with  this  period  of  beneficence  be- 
fore his  vision,  that  Franklin  affirmed  "  That  Bills  of 
credit  made  a  legal  tender"  were  the  supreme  advan- 
tages to  trade.  The  Confiscation  Act  of  Parliament 
in  1763  ran  against  the  Bills  of  the  entire  country  in 
America.  It  was  one  of  the  main  causes  of  the  Colonial 
discontent  and  a  factor  leading  to  the  Revolution. 

Notwithstanding  it  is  a  pet  subject  for  the  metallic 
cartoonist  to  represent  the  Continental  money  as  sov- 
ereignty in  rags  and  tatters,  yet  it  is  the  solemn  testi- 
mony of  hist ory  that  through  the  potency  of  the  *  'paper ' ' 
so  issued  our  Independence  was  won.  There  wras  not 
enough  of  gold  and  silver  to  meet  the  emergency.  This 
arose  from  their  actual  scarcity  and  from  the  cowardice 
which  has  always  led  them  into  some  holy  sanctuary 
during  danger,  But,  though  lacking  many  things  to 
impart  to  it  stability,  this  "paper"  money,  in  amount, 
accordingtoSpofford,  $359, 546,825,  or  $119  per  capita, 
in  those  seven  terrible  years,  animated  the  soldiers  on 
to  success. 

These  notes  read: — "This  note  entitles  the  Bearer 
to  receive Spanish  Mill  dollars,  or  the  value  thereof 

—89— 


in  gold  and  silver,  according  to  the  resolution  of  Con- 
gress of  the  10th  of  May  1775." 

Their  depreciation  may  be  accounted  for  by  these 
briefly  stated  reasons :  The  contest  was  most  unequal. 
England  had  all  resources  and  the  colonies  had  few. 
Therefore  success  was  doubtful.  Nothing  was  due  to 
Congress,  because  the  States  laid  and  collected  taxes 
and  all  customs  on  imports.  Prior  to  1779  the  faith  of 
Congress  was  not  pledged  to  these  notes.  They  were 
made  payable  in  coin,  and  in  the  whole  country  there 
was  not  over  $5,000,000,  and  that  was  not  enough  for 
their  redemption.  The  time  of  redemption  was  extended 
nineteen  years  after  1779.  Owing  to  poor  printing  they 
were  easy  of  counterfeiting.  England  resorted  to  this, 
and  in  vast  blocks  issued  the  spurious  notes,  imitating 
the  good  ones,  and  thus  leading  to  confusion  and  doubt. 
A  boat  load  of  these  counterfeits  was  captured  near 
New  York.  These  continental  notes  were  not  legal  ten- 
der in  payment  of  private  debts.  This  and  their  redeem- 
ability  in  coin  were  their  chief  defects. 

Regardless  of  these  facts,  they  gained  our  freedom, 
for  they  were  the  main  stay  until  1781,  when  Congress 
chartered  the  Bank  of  North  America  as  a  national  in- 
stitution, and  with  a  part  of  the  $5,000,000,  received 
from  France,  made  these  continental  notes  legal  tender 
for  all  debts  to  the  Confederation.  That  our  fathers 
revered  them  is  shown  in  that  on  September  17,  1787, 
when  our  Constitution  was  adopted,  these  old  debts  of 
the  Continental  Confederation  were  assumed  and  de- 
clared sacred  in  Article  6.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
cost  of  it  was  reckoned  at  $135,000,000.  A  great  part 
of  this  was  paid  by  the  United  States,  as  our  debt  in 
1791  was  about  $75,  463,746.52. 

Counting  those  redeemed  by  the  States,  and  those 
destroyed  in  all  ways,  the  truth  probably  is  that  all 
those  outstanding  at  that  time  and  duly  presented  were 

—90— 


redeemed  at  their  face  value.  Thus  the  faith  was  kept, 
and  the  criticism  falls  before  their  final  triumph. 

In  1791  the  Treasury  reported  that  there  were  not 
$10,000,000  coin  in  the  entire  country.  Being  about 
$3.00  per  capita,  it  was  not  sufficient  for  use.  A  Na- 
tional Bank  was  created  with  power  to  create  $30,000- 
000  notes — made  legal  tender  for  all  dues  owing  to  the 
Government.  In  the  estimation  of  the  people,  for  daily 
use  they  had  preference  over  coin. 

To  "fight  the  second  war  with  England,  $57,000,000 
Treasury  notes  were  issued,  clothed  with  full  legal  ten- 
der capacity.  They  remained  the  preferred  medium  of 
all  exchange,  until  denuded  of  their  power  in  1822,  or 
rather,  called  into  the  United  States  Treasurv  in  order 
to  give  place  to  the  U.  S.  Bank  notes. 

In  1814,  when  the  State  Banks  suspended  specie 
payment,  it  was  proposed  to  issue  $25,000,000  of 
Treasury  notes.  This  was  defeated  in  1816  by  the 
charter  of  the  National  Bank.  Its  capital  was  $35*000,- 
000,  based  on  less  than  one-fifth  of  coin.  It  issued 
$105,000,000  notes.  As  behind  these  stood  the  credit 
and  command  of  the  United  States,  they  performed  sat- 
isfactorily all  the  functions  of  money.  Its  charter  ex- 
pired in  1836.  President  Jackson  in  1832  vetoed  its  re- 
incorporation,  saying  in  effect :  ' '  Instead  of  bank  notes, 
however,  he  urged  upon  Congress  the  right  of  the  United 
States  to  issue  all  the  paper  money  as  well  as  the  hard 
money  of  the  country.  He  wished  the  "paper  money," 
instead  of  having  a  professed  specie  basis,  which  was 
always  a  'false  pretense  and  a  fraud,'  should  be  based 
upon  the  'credit  and  revenues  of  the  nation.' ' 

This  was  in  alignment  with  Jefferson,  when  he  said 
Treasury  notes  should  be  "bottomed  on  a  tax."  For 
the  power  to  tax  is  the  most  absolute  force  of  the  Gov- 
ernment and  brings  to  its  command  and  support  the 
entire  property  of  all  the  people. 

By  this  varied  "paper  money,"  the  United  States  in 

—91— 


1835  passed  to  the  sublimest  epoch  in  its  history  and 
to  one  standing  alone  in  its  grandeur.  It  was  out  of 
debt,  the  sum  of  $37,513.05  charged  upon  its  books 
being  insignificant. 

In  1837  the  banks  suspended  specie  payments,  ow- 
ing$40,000,000to  the  Government.  To  supply  a  ready 
circulation,  Treasury  notes  were  again  issued.  From 
then  to  1848  $100,000,000  millions  were  sent  out  to  do 
the  business  exchanges  of  the  people.  In  1846  the  law 
was  enacted  that  only  gold,  silver  and  Treasury  notes 
should  be  received  for  Government  dues,  all  bank  issues 
being  excluded.  These  Treasury  notes  were  legal  ten- 
der and  supplied  the  lack  of  coin. 

In  1857  another  specie  suspension  occurred,  and 
once  more  the  almighty  command  of  the  Nation  ex- 
pressed itself,  and  spoke'into  being  $20,000,000.  This 
it  did  because  coin  was  inadequate  to  public  need.  It 
never  has  been  in  a  crisis. 

True  to  its  antecedent  proclivities,  when  the  Rebel- 
lion came,  coin  vanished — "melted  into  air,  into  thin 
air,"  and  like  an  "unsubstantial  pageant  faded."  It 
disappeared.  It  could  not  be  had.  Secession  must  be 
successful  or  else  the  only  alternative  known  to  higher 
civilization  must  be  brought  into  play.  The  rugged 
intellect  of  Lincoln  was  equal  to  the  "crisis  that  tried 
men's  souls."  The  all-powerful  metals,  to  money  uses 
dignified  by  law  and  evading  their  responsibility,  saw 
their  place  supplied  by  the  potentiality  of  a  genuine 
government. 

By  its  fiat  the  base  flight  of  coins  was  rendered 
harmless.  By  its  fiat  the  South  was  subdued  and  the 
Nation  preserved.  By  its  fiat  industry,  commerce  and 
prosperity  came  like  trooping  spirits  to  pour  balm  on 
our  gory  wounds.  By  its  fiat  the  soil  of  this  land  be- 
came too  holy  to  bear  the  tread  of  a  slave.  By  its  fiat, 
as  expressed  in  greenbacks,  "papar  currency,"  all  these 
things  were  done,  and  they  stand  as  grave  witnesses, 

—92— 


contradicting  the  proposition  that  only  evil  can  follow 
ircrm  their  use  and  extension,  as  suggested  by  the  dis- 
senting judge. 

Second.  The  next  proposition  of  Justice  Field,  that 
"the  possibility  of  the  depreciation  of  'paper'  is  ever 
present,"  is  denied.  Its  depreciation  is  always  relative, 
the  value  being  measured  by  some  fixed  standard, 
based  on  a  legal  unit.  The  relation  of  each  kind  of 
money  in  use  is  dependent  upon  the  law  of  its  creation. 
If  the  law  confers  identical  powers  on  each,  there  will  be 
no  variation.  But  if  there  be  no  other  money  than 
" paper,"  then  there  can  be  no  depreciation.  The  error 
lies  in  the  assumption  that  gold  and  silver  must  be  the 
standard.  Their  failures  as  such  have  been  before  de- 
monstrated. If  there  is  no  other  money  than  paper, 
then  it  would  have  stability  as  long  as  the  government 
existed  and  continued  to  sustain  it  by  receiving  it  in 
payment  of  its  obligations  and  decreeing  it  a  solvent  of 
private  debts. 

Venice  for  six  centuries  dealt  with  a  paper  credit 
system,  and  was  to  all  surrounding  nations,  dependent 
on  metals,  a  model  of  prosperity  and  happiness.  This 
case,  and  that  of  certain  Dutch  cities,  together  with 
those  glanced  at  in  the  previous  head,  are  notable  ex- 
amples, showing  in  every  instance  that  where  "paper" 
is  made  a  full  legal  tender  for  both  public  and  private 
debts,  that  its  circulation  is  not  attended  with  l4 depre- 
ciation." 

Third.  The  Jurist's  next  proposition,  that  "the 
infirmity  of  paper  is  natural  and  beyond  the  scope  of 
legislation,"  will  now  be  considered.  In  the  first  place 
it  must  be  candidly  admitted  that  money  is  a  creature 
of  man  and  not  a  growth  of  nature.  It  is  a  representa- 
tive of  value,  because  society  has  so  ordained  it.  This  is 
axiomatic.  There  is  evidence  in  every  land,  in  every  age, 
that  law  makes  and  destroys  money.  Perhaps  a  hund- 
red different  articles,  some  with  value  for  use  and  some 

—93— 


without,  have  been  endowed  with  the  circulating  func- 
tion. When  the  law,  that  dignified  them  as  a  meastfre, 
was  withdrawn,  they  at  once  became  worthless, 
passed  into  financial  oblivion.  This  rule  has  always 
applied  to  metals,  products,  chattels  and  cattle,  when 
used  as  money,  with  the  same  uniformity  as  to 
" paper."  In  fact  when  the  latter  has  been  invested 
with  full  legal  tender  power,  it  has  remained  as  stable 
as  the  metal  moneys,  each  being  under  the  dominion  of 
law.  Our  coins  change  their  money  values  when 
the  law  so  determines. 

In  the  mintage  prior  to  1834  there  was  a  fixed  num- 
ber of  grains  in  a  twenty  dollar  piece.  By  an  amend- 
ment then  made  by  Congress, there  was  a  change  in  the 
number.  Hence,  as  to  the  gold  contained,  $960  of  the 
old  mintage  equalled  to  $1000  ot  the  new,  as  thus 
declared  by  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Legal  Tender 
cases  decided  in  December  1870,  12  Wallace  548 : 

"  Whatever  power  there  is  over  the  currency  is  vested  in  Congress. 
If  the  power  to  declare  what  money  is  is  not  in  Congress,  it  is  anni- 
hilated." "The  Constitution  does  not 
ordain  what  metals  ma3r  be  coined,  or  prescribe  that  the  legal  value 
of  the  metals,  when  coined,  shall  correspond  at  all  with  their  intrinsic 
value  in  the  market."  "No  one  ever  doubted 
that  a  debt  of  $1000,  contracted  before  1834,  could  be  paid  by  one 
hundred  eagles  coined  after  that  year,  though  they  contained  no  more 
gold  than  ninety-four  eagles  such  as  were  coined  when  the  contract 
was  made,  and  this,  not  because  of  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  coin,  but 
because  of  its  legal  value.  The  eagles  coined  after  1834  were  not 
money  until  they  were  authorized  by  law,  and  had  they  been  coined 
before,  without  a  law  fixing  their  legal  value,  they  could  no  more 
have  paid  a  debt  than  uncoined  bullion,  or  cotton,  or  wheat.  Every 
contract  for  the  payment  of  money,  simply,  is  necessarily  subject  to 
the  constitutional  power  of  the  government  over  the  currency,  what- 
ever that  may  be  and  the  obligation  of  the  parties  is,  therefore,  as- 
sumed with  reference  to  that  power." 

«**•»**,***« 

"  It  is  hardly  correct  to  speak  of  a  standard  of  value.  The  Con- 
stitution does  not  speak  of  it.  It  contemplates  a  standard  for  that 
which  has  gravity  or  extension ;  but  value  is  an  ideal  thing.  The 
Coinage  Acts  fix  the  unit  as  a  dollar ;  but  the  gold  or  silver  thing  we 
call  a  dollar  is  in  no  sense  a  standard  of  a  dollar.  It  is  a  representa- 
tion of  it.  There  might  never  have  been  a  piece  of  money  of  the  de- 
nomination of  a  dollar.  There  never  was  a  pound  sterling  coined 

—94— 


until  1815,  if  we  except  a  few  coins  struck  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII, 
almost  immediately  debased,  yet  it  has  been  the  unit  of  British  cur- 
rency for  many  generations." 

"  The  gold  dollar  is  not  a  commodity,  having  an  in- 
trinsic value,  but  money,  having  only  a  statutory  value. 
Every  dollar  has  the  same  value,  without  regard  to  the 
material." — Iowa  Reports,  Vol.  16,  page  246. 

By  the  Act  of  1873  the  value  of  silver  has  been  grad- 
ually depressed  because  its  character  as  *  'currency  "was 
was  modified,  leaving  it  largely  as  a  "comodity,"  mak- 
ing it  in  comparison  with  the  gold  standard  a  "fifty 
cent  dollar." 

That  History  is  an  irreverent  iconoclast  of  the  ven- 
erable theory  that  gold  and  silver  have  inherent  values, 
is  shown  by  two  examples,  separated  in  time  and  dis- 
tance : 

"  On  the  testimony'  of  Thomas  Baring  -we  are  assured  that  it  was 
found  impossible,  during  the  crisis  of  1847  in  London  to  raise  any 
money  whatever  on  a  sum  of  60,000  Pounds  in  silver.  But  during  a 
similar  crisis  in  Calcutta  in  1864  it  was  equally  impossible  to  raise 
even  a  rupee  of  paper  money  on  20,000  Pounds  of  gold.  The  silver 
in  London  was  not  a  legal  tender  above  40s.,  while  the  gold  in  Cal- 
cutta was  not  so  for  any  sum  whatever." 

In  each  case  the  metal  was  valuless  as  clay,  because  no 
Sovereign  power  into  it  breathed  life.  Take  away  the 
monetary  function  of  gold  and  silver  and  in  comparison 
with  iron,  or  copper,  place  them,  and  their  value  would 
drop,  according  to  Senator  Cockrell,  fifty  per  cent,  and 
according  to  Senator  Stewart,  ninety  per  cent.  If  these 
two  precious  and  venerated  idols  should  be  annihilated 
and  their  memory  obliterated,  the  onward  march  of 
humanity  would  not  be  perceptibly  halted,  but  no  con- 
ception can  grasp  the  magnitude  of  the  disaster  if  iron 
and  copper  were  lost  to  civilization. 

The  law  effected  these  foregoing  changes  in  the  value 
of  gold  and  silver.  But  the  like  majesty  of  statute  that 
modifies  the  one  and  emasculates  the  other  also  gives 
to  greenbacks  their  stability.  The  most  unparalled 
case  is  found  in  the  first  issue  in  1862  of  $60,000,000 

—95— 


so-called  demand  notes.  As  soon  as  they  were  dressed 
in  the  habiliments  of  full  legal  tenders,  they  came  to  a 
"parity"  with  gold  and  retained  it  through  all  the 
"tips  and  downs"  of  that  fratricidal  slaughter.  When 
gold  touched  its  zenith  at  $1.00  in  gold  equal  in  worth 
to  $2  85  in  the  ordinary  greenbacks,  debilitated 
with  the  excepting  clause,  these  demand  notes  stood 
at  the  same  high  figure.  Why  ?  Because  the  law 
had  so  decreed.  The  potency  that  was  impressed 
on  the  postage  stamp,  that  unfurled  the  flag  as 
a  national  emblem,  and  by  invitation  or  "draft" 
collected  and  organized,  fed  and  clothed,  transported 
and  armed  a  million  veterans,  was  attending  as  a  com- 
manding presence  and  stood  by  that  demand  note,  say- 
ing, "I  am  the  voice  of  a  mighty  people."  If  through 
the  furnace  of  that  awful  conflict  this  note  passed  un- 
harmed, then  it  would  seem  to  be  proof  against  all 
assnults  save  the  annihilation  of  the  Government. 

Just  as  long  as  the  nation  issues  its  " paper"  with- 
out redeemability  in  coin  and  declares  it  a  debt-payer, 
so  long  will  it  remain  "a  good  money,  "enshrined  in  the 
love  of  its  people.  Its  redeemability  is  accomplished 
every  time  it  enables  products  to  be  exchanged. 

The  exemplification  of  this  may  be  easily  seen,  thus : 
To  build  a  postoffice  the  Government  needs  materials 
worth  $100,000.  For  them  its  "  paper"  is  exchanged  in 
payment,  to  the  purchaser.  The  latter  owes  the  whole- 
saler and  turns  in  the  "paper"  to  balance  his  account. 
The  merchant,  to  pay  his  custom  dues,  returns  the 
"paper"  to  the  Government.  In  succession,  the  latter, 
the  material  owner,  the  merchant,  has  paid  a  debt  and 
transferred  property.  Could  coin  be  more  efficacious? 
As  long  as  exchanges  are  freely  made  through  "paper," 
the  redemption  is  perfect.  The  public  is  satisfied  when 
its  debts  are  paid  and  its  trade  readily  consummated. 
This  is  the  supreme  use  and  end  of  money,  "Paper's 
redemption,"  instead  of  being  outside  of  the  law,  is  the 

—96— 


very  creature  of  law — fashioned  in  the  image  of  its  crea- 
tor. Its  receivability  by  the  Nation  is  the  highest  stamp 
of  its  money  value  and  enough  to  maintain  it  all  times 
and  in  all  adversities. 

The  truth  of  this  permanence  is  perceived  in  the  fact 
that  owing  to  the  lack  of  coin  the  nations  have  been 
compelled  under  the  dictation  of  necessity  to  enlarge 
their  currency  by  vast  quantity  of  "paper."  It  was  to 
exhibit  this  that  Senator  Cockrell  in  Congress,  on  Jan- 
uary 12,  1891,  presented  the  following  letters : 

Treasury  Department, 
Office  of  Comptroller  of  the  Currency, 

WASHINGTON.  D.  C.,  June  6,  1890. 
DEAR  SIR: — In  reply  to  your  telegram  of  this  date  I  have  the 

honor  to  state  that  the  following  is  an  estimate  of  the  paper  money 

in  circulation  in  the  different  countries  of  the  world : 

United  States $938,728,000 

United  Kingdom 190,000,000 

France 594,000,000 

Germany 275,000,000 

Belgium 75,000,000 

Italy 260,000,000 

Switzerland 25,000,000 

Turkey 2,000,000 

Australia 25,000,000 

Mexico 10,000,000 

Central  American  States 2,000,000 

Argentine  Republic 150,000,000 

Rest  of  South  America 175,000,000 

Greece 18,000,000 

Spain 145,000,000 

Portugal 7,000,000 

Austria-Hungary 330,000,000 

Netherlands 80,000,000 

Scandinavian  Union 40,000,000 

Russia 475,000,000 

Japan 125,000,000 

India 60,000,000 

Canada 50,000,000 

Cuba  and  Hayti 50,000,000 

Total $4,201,728,000 

Very  Respectfully,  E.  S.  LACEY, 

Comptroller. 
Hon.  F.  M.  COCKRELL, 

United  States  Senate,  City. 

-97- 


P.  S. — I  am  indebted  to  the  Director  of  the  Mint,  who  has  taken 
much  pains  to  ascertain  the  amounts  of  coin  and  paper  in  circulation 
ki  foreign  countries  for  his  forthcoming  report,  which  is  not  yet  in 
print,  for  the  figures  given  above." 

What  stands  behind  this  " paper  "  $4,201,728,000? 
What  decrees  value  to  the  world's  gold  $3,582,605,000 
and  silver  $4,042,700,000?  All  the  centuries  can  syl- 
lable but  one  answer— * 'Popular  Will."  The  thunders 
of  denial  cannot  confuse  the  utterance,  clear  and  con- 
vincing. It  is  all  the  People  speaking  with  one  mighty 
voice — majestic  as  the  song  of  the  sea. 

They  say  to  any  chosen  substance — "Obey!"  and, 
Lo!  there  comes  obedience  at  the  People's  word.  This 
will  is  crystallized  into  one  command,  expressed  into 
an  official  decree — Law.  Whatever  comes  from  the  su- 
preme and  sovereign  Power  of  a  Nation,  bearing  its 
stamp  indicative  of  its  selection  as  money,  is,  in  truth, 
money. 

It  was  a  profound  recognition  of  this  principle  that 
inspired  the  question: — "Whose  is  this  image  and  super- 
scription?" They  say  unto  him,  *' Caesar's."  Then 
saith  he  unto  them,  "Render  therefore  unto  Caesar  the 
things  which  are  Caeesar's  and  unto  God,  the  things 
that  are  God's."  Through  all  the  ages  this  answer  has 
stood  and  stands  to-day,  the  august  ultimatum  of 
wisdom  affirming  that  man  makes  money.  Its  corol- 
lary is  that  its  value,  whatever  its  material,  depends 
soiely  on  his  will  and  that  it  has  no  innate  infirmity 
beyond  the  cure  of  his  law. 

So  affirms  the  thorn-crowned  Peasant,  Christ.  So 
denies  the  silk-robed  Jurist,  Field.  Which  will  you 
choose  for  your  philosopher  and  friend  ?  The  one  teaches 
fraternal  justice  as  the  very  soul  of  our  civilization. 
The  other  advocates  selfishness  as  a  fundamental  in  our 
law,  and  bids  patriotic  Labor  patiently  bear  incense  to 
the  altar  of  Mammon. 

Fourth.    The  fourth  position  of  Justice  Field  is  em- 

-98- 


braced  in  the  question.  "If  it  is  proper  to  issue  legal  ten- 
der paper  money,  then  why  not  use  them  to  pay  the 
national  debt?"  That  is  what  ought  to  be  done.  In 
all  cases  where  the  National  obligations  are  by  statute 
expressly  PAYABLE  IN  COIN,  then  if  required  by  the  holder 
the  payment  should  be  so  made.  That  is  contract. 
Yet  even  here,  so  far  as  money  is  concerned,  each  con- 
tracting party  understands  that  the  Government  is 
supreme  as  to  the  substance  and  functions  of  money 
and,  under  the  Constitution,  may  change  the  "  money 
of  account."  Hence  in  every  case  the  liquidation  may 
be  in  " lawful  money." 

There  are  the  three  following  facts  that  imperatively 
demand  the  adoption  of  this  policy  at  this  time : 

A.  The   People   have  a  national   debt    of  about 
$1,550,000,000,  and  an  average  running  expense,  aver- 
aging about  $300,000,000  or  more. 

B.  There   is  an  absolute  money  famine,  because 
there  are  not  enough  gold  and  silver  and  greenbacks  for 
daily  use. 

C.  Congress  has  the  legal  right  to  issue  legal  ten- 
ders, or  ''lawful  money." 

Hence,  as  the  occasion  exists,  the  means  at  command 
and  the  right  conceded,  it  becomes  the  moral  duty  to 
act  for  the  public  benefit.  There  can  be  no  escape  from 
this  responsibility.  For,  it  is  a  rule  of  Equity  Jurispru- 
dence, that  when  a  discretion  is  conferred  on  a  public 
official,  that  it  shall  be  exercised  whenever  the  interests 
of  the  public  demands.  This  demand  for  relief  has  been 
rising,  like  a  piteous  wail,  for  years.  The  voice  has 
grown  louder,  less  pleading,  more  exacting,  and  to-day 
is  becoming  the  prelude  to  revolution. 

Is  not  Fate  pointing  its  gory  and  significant  finger 
at  this  trinity  of  following  conditions,  and  demanding 
Reforms?  For  thirty  years  nature  has  been  prodigal 
of  her  benefactions  to  this  country,  sparing  it  all  visita- 
tions of  drouth,  flood,  famine  and  pestilence.  That  the 

—99— 


United  States  can  with  glowing  pride  array  her  immense 
natural  resource,  varied  soil,  abundant  water,  infinite 
capacity  for  production,  perfection  of  machinery,  skill, 
pluck,  push  and  brains  of  her  labor,  and  political  equal- 
ity of  its  citizens.  These  two  great  premises  should  log- 
ically call  for  a  conclusion,  showing  all  the  insignia  of 
happiness  and  prosperity. 

But  the  reverse  is  true.  The  people  are  neither 
happy  nor  prosperous.  A  societ}7  is  here  exhibited  with 
WANT  everywhere,  millions  in  rags,  in  idleness  and  in 
hunger — with  the  telegraph  forever  ticking  its  "strikes," 
"riots,"  "lockouts,"  "suspensions,"  "cuts  in  wages," 
"half-time,"  "industrial  armies,"  and  "municipal  con- 
tributions forced  to  stop  death  or  blood."  Out  of  this 
woe  comes  up  the  sigh,  whisper,  cry,  wail,  lamentation 
for  more  money.  It  may  fairly  be  conceded  that  land, 
tariff  and  transportation  monopolies,  are  all  factors  in 
this  depression.  Still,  if  all  needed  and  wise  reforms  in 
these  were  at  once  effected,  they  could  only  bring  par- 
tial and  slow  relief,  whereas  a  plenteous  currency  would 
be  instantaneous  in  its  blessings. 

Hence,  as  Congress  should  at  once  issue  legal  tender 
Treasury  notes,  the  amount  of  them  becomes  the  most 
profoundly  important  consideration.  At  the  present 
time  there  is  no  stable  nor  scientific  basis  for  the  amount 
of  metallic  money.  The  amount  is  always  limited  by 
the  discharge  of  the  mines  and  the  cost  of  their  working, 
including  mintage.  This  limitation  is  such  that  even 
the  Government  is  powerless  before  it.  Perhaps  it 
might  follow  the  example  of  some  old  English  sovereigns, 
and  recoin  our  metals  into  dollars  having  less  grains  to 
each — making  a  fourth,  or  a  tenth,  or  a  hundredth  of 
the  present  number  a  dollar  and  investing  it  with  legal 
tender  power. 

But  instead  of  this  expensive  and  hazardous  meth- 
od, Congress  should  circulate  a  paper  currency  and 

—loo— 


base  its  quantity  upon  a  percentage  or  per  capita  prin- 
ciple. 

Asa  supposed  foundation  for  the  percentage  system, 
this  citation  will  serve  at  least  as  an  approximation. 
It  is  the  answer  of  the  Examiner,  Feb.  20,  1894,  to  a 
"query,"  and  is  based  on  the  figures  of  the  census: 

"  The  estimated  true  value  of  all  kinds  of  property  in  the  United 
States  on  January  1,  1891,  was: 

Real  estate  in  c:ties  and  towns $14,000,000.000 

Real  estate  in  other  than  cities  and  towns 13,000.000.000 

Personal  property  (not  hereinafter  specified) 7, 3OO, 000,000 

Railroads  and  their  equipment 7,000,000,000 

Manufactures,  product  of 5,000,000,000 

Manutacturies,  capital  invested  in 3,000,000.000 

Productions  (including  wool) 3,500.000,000 

Property    owned    and    money  invested    in    foreign 

countries 3,100,000.000 

Animals  (domestic)  on  farms 2,480, (>00  000 

Animals  (domestic)  in  cities  and  towns 1,700,000,000 

Public  buildings,  arsenals,  warvessels.  etc 2,200,000,000 

Money. gold  and  silver  coins $1,10«»,000,0<)0 

Money,  U.S.  currency  and  bank  notes      992,000,000 

Money,  foreign  coins  in  II.  S 32,000,000      2,130,000,000 

Public  domain  (at  $1.25  per  acre) 1,000.000,000 

Mineral  products  (all  descriptions) 590,000,000 

Total  value  of  all  property : $66.000,000,000 

Population  in  1890.  62.622,250;  property  per  capita,  $1,047.62. 
Assessed  valuation  of  all  property,  $24,250,000,000;  property  per 
capita  of  asse>sed  valuation,  $384.92." 

Now,  having  the  valuation,  $66,000,000,000,  what 
percentage  th-Teof  shall  Congress  determine  is  the 
proper  one?  The  answer,  though  surrounded  by  diffi- 
culty at  the  start,  would  gradually  become  easier,  as 
experience  enlarged,  observation  grew  keener  and  the 
Census  became  more  accurate.  As  a  preliminary  guide, 
tnis  consideration  might  aid :  All  experience  focalizes 
to  the  conclusion  that  at  least  from  five  to  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  volume  of  business  done  must  be  on  hand  as  a 
cash  investment.  It  will  require  on  an  average  from 
$5,000  to  $10,000  cash  for  a  person  to  transact  an 
annual  business  of  $100,000.  But  the  entire  wealth  of 
the  nation  is  the  capital  or  investment  by  which  the 

—101— 


whole  people  pursue  their  callings  and  gain  their  liveli- 
hood. This  calculation  at  five  per  cent  would  give 
$3,300,000,000  and  twice  that  at  the  higher  per 
cent  age. 

Again:  The  table  of  property  valuations  shows 
that  there  is  about  $1,000  of  property  to  each  citizen. 
Then,  treating  that  sum  as  the  citizen's  capitalization, 
he  ought  to  have  the  same  percentage  of  cash  in  order 
to  handle  himself  or  his  capital  to  an  advantage.  This 
would  provide  for  each  person  from  $50  to  $100  as 
cash  in  general  circulation  for  him  to  use  in  the  man- 
agement of  his  own  valuation — or  his  average  share  of 
the  entire  wealth.  Therefore,  the  same  general  result 
would  be  attained,  since  $50  each  for  65,000,000  of 
people  would  be  $3,250,000,000  as  the  necessary  and 
probably  adequate  volume  of  currency  for  use  in  our 
daily  transactions. 

But  disregarding  all  property  as  a  direct  factor  in 
the  calculation,  the  number  of  people  may  be  treated  as 
the  sole  basis.  Since  no  nation  has  ever  had  a  currency 
confessedly  based  on  population,  it  is  admitted  that 
this  is  an  ocean  of  experiment,  where  no  plummet  has 
sounded  all  the  depths,  and  no  chart  has  yet  been  issued. 
Yet  it  is  not  entirely  an  unknown  sea.  There  are  some 
data  for  sailing.  They  would  indicate  that  the  compass 
will  still  be  true.  Dropping  the  metaphor,  let  two 
examples  be  viewed  as  affording  some  deductions. 

The  following  table  takes  ten  nations,  embracing 
two-thirds  of  the  human  race,  and  displaying  the  push 
of  the  Occident  and  the  conservatism  of  the  Orient ; 
bringing  into  vision  the  lights  of  Christendom  and  the 
shadows  of  Paganism — and  offering  the  wisdom  of  old 
nations  and  the  experience  of  new  commonwealths. 

The  figures  are  from  the  Director  of  the  Mint,  Aug. 
16,  1893.  Other  statisticians  might  vary  them — nota- 
bly making  the  per  capita  circulation  in  France  higher 
and  in  the  United  States  lower : 

—102— 


Cotmtries.  Population. 
France....  39,000,000 
U.  States  67,000,000 
Germany  49,500,000 
G  Britain  38,000,000 
Italy  31,000,000 

Gold. 
$800  000,000 
604,000,000 
600,000,000 
550,000,000 
93,605,000 

Silver. 
$700,000,000 
615,000,000 
211,000,000 
100,000,000 
50,200,000 

Paper. 
$  81,402,000 
412,000,000 
107,000,000 
50,000,000 
163,471,000 

Russia..  ..113,000,000 
India  255,000,000 
Turkey...  33,000,000 
China  400,000,000 
C.  Amer..  3,000,000 

250,000,000 
50,000,000 

60,000,000 
900,000,000 
45,000,000 
700,000,000 
500,000 

500,000,000 
28,000,000 

2,000,000 

Totals,    998,500,000$2,947,605,000  $3,381,700,000$1,343,873,000 

PER  CAPITA. 

Gold.                Silver  Paper.  Total. 

France $20.52           $17.95  $2.09  $40,56 

United  States 9.01                9.18  6.15  24.34- 

Germany 12.12               4.26  2.16  18.54 

Great  Britain 14.47                2.63  1.32  18.42 

Italy 13.01                1.62  5.27  9.91 

Russia 2.21                  .53  4.42  7.16 

India 3.53  .11  3.64 

Turkey 1.52                1.36  2.88 

China 1.75  1.75 

Central  America .17  *         .67  .84 

Average  per  capita,  $12.80. 

The  average  for  each  is  $12.80.  Now  six  are  below 
and  four  are  above  the  average.  But  as  there  is  an  im- 
mense money  ' 'stringency"  in  this  country,  Germany 
and  Great  Britain,  having  an  average  per  capita  of 
$20.43,  it  would  not  do  to  consider  the  sum  of  $12.80 
as  in  any  way  commensurate  with  the  currency  needs  of 
the  ten  nations  named.  The  rejection  of  both  these  low 
averages — $12.80  and  $20,43 — is  incontrovertably  jus- 
tified, since  the  volume  of  money  in  circulation  is  an 
index,  almost  mathematical  in  its  certainty,  of  the  hap- 
piness and  progress  of  a  nation. 

Which  is  the  more  stable  government,  France,  with 
$40.56  a  head,  or  the  Central  American  States,  with  84 
cents  a  person  ?  Which  pays  its  laborers  more — this 
country  or  China?  Which  is  more  inventive  and  scien- 
tific— Great  Britain  or  India  ?  Hence,  there  can  be  no 
wisdom  in  selecting  the  low  percapitas.  Nor  can  reason 

—103— 


choose  the  United  States,  Germany  and  Great  Britain 
as  standards,  as  they,  with  their  present  volumes  of 
currency,  having  an  average  per  capita  of  $20. 43,  do  not 
exhibit  "good  times." 

France  alone  remains  for  consideration.  As  the 
most  recent  statistics  establish,  a  per  capita  of  $51,  or 
as  some  claim,  $58,  is  to-day  circulating  among  the 
forty  millions  of  the  great  French  Republic.  It  has  paid 
to  Germany,  quickly  and  in  full,  the  most  enormous 
war  tribute— $1,100,000,000— known  to  modern  ages. 
It  has  evoked  from  the  ashes  of  her  conquest  the  flower 
of  order,  and  from  the  bloody  soil  of  the  Commune  the 
fruits  of  internal  peace.  Out  of  the  broken  and  disgraced 
elements  of  a  monarchy,  it  has  rebuilt  a  stable  govern- 
ment, embellishing  it  with  all  the  ornaments  of  modern 
civilization.  The  constantly  employed  labor  of  the 
11  sunny  land"  has,  out  of  shop  and  field,  long  since  dis- 
charged and  satisfied  the  extravagant  debts  of  support- 
ing a  dazzling  royalty,  and  though  crippled  with  its 
loss  of  Alsace  and  Loraine,  it  has  beaten  Germany  in 
the  keen  battles  of  trade  and  manufactures.  These 
triumphs  have  been  won  by  giving  French  labor  a  plen- 
teous currency,  so  that  the  exchanges  of  its  products 
have  been  easily  effected.  The  facts  do  not  offer  nor 
nor  permit  any  other  philosophic  and  economic  explan- 
ation. 

If  therefore  this  is  true,  then  our  Congress  has  this 
$51,  the  French  per  capita,  as  a  sure  guide  for  fixing 
the  volume  of  our  national  currency.  At  $50  per  head 
the  circulating  medium  would  be  established  at  about 
$3,250,000,000  for  the  United  States. 

The  next  example  is  furnished  by  our  own  history. 
As  our  majestic  rivers  rise  and  fall  as  there  are  light  or 
heavy  deposits  of  snow  and  rain,  so  here  the  streams  of 
national  prosperity  have  always  depended  on  the  plen- 
titude  of  our  currency. 

For  confirmation  of  this,  "strong  as  proof  of  holy 

-104— 


writ,"  the  subjoined  table  stands  a  witness,  with  elo 
quent  oratory,  preaching  a  sermon  calling  a  crusade  to 
rescue  Liberty.    It  displays  ten  epochs,  of  the  United 
States : 

Money  in  Poulation,  Per  capita, 

Year  circulation.  (about  )  (about.)  Condition. 

1810  $  28,000,000  7,250  000  $  4.00  hard  times 

1816  110,000,000  8,250,000  13.00  good     " 

1818  4-00(10,000  8,500,OoO  4,50  panic. 

1837  150,000  000  13,000,000  11.50  fine 

1843  58,000,000  18,O()0,OoO  3.50  panic. 

1857  215,000,000  30,oOO,()00  7.00  fair 

1858  150,000,000  30, 000,000  5.00  panic. 
1865  1,863,000,000  35,000,000  52.00  best       " 
1873  652,000,000  42,OoO.OOO  15.50  panic. 
1893  350,000,000  68,000,000  5.15  wor>t  " 

In  giving  the  volumes  of  money  at  the  various  years, 
the  reserves  held  in  the  United  States  Treasury  and  in 
banks  are  deducted.  They  are  not  in  actual  use,  pass- 
ingfrom  hand  to  hand,  and  cannot,  in  a  potential  sense, 
be  said  to  be  in  circulation. 

To  illustrate   this  for  1893,  Mr.  Dunning  presents 
this  statement  of  reserves  : 

"The  followingded  actions  are  made  from  thevolume  of  outstand- 
ing currency.     We  consider  them  Conservative  and  correct : 

Amount  held  in  U.  S.  Treasury $142,107,228 

Amount  held  as  reserves  in  National  Banks 412,54-1 ,723 

Amount  held  as  reserve  in  State,  private  and  savings 

banks,  etc., 460,569,402 

Amount  held  in  banks  not  reporting 36,470,000 

Amount  deducted  for  loss  on  paper  money 67.0oO,000 

Amount  deducted  for  loss  in  gold  coin  and  certificates  21S,nOO,OoO 
Amount  deducted  for  loss  in  silver  and  certificates..  ..  51,500,000 


Total $1,388,688,355 

"The  total  amount  paced  as  outstanding,  $1,738, 954, 057,  less 
$1,388,688,355,  gives  $350.266,702.  Divided  by  the  population 
given  by  the  Treasury  Department,  68, 0< '0,000,  and  it  gives  $5.15 
per  capita.  While  this  small  per  capita  may  seem  unreasonable  or 
absurd  to  many,  a  careful  revision  of  these  figures  is  suggested  before 
hasty  conclusions  are  made.  The  subject  will  bear  a  very  close  inves- 
tigation, and  as  nearly  every  economist  declares  that  the  volume  of 
currency  in  circulation  establishes  the  level  price  of  products,  these 
tables  may  be  of  service  in  locating  the  difficulties  which  at  the  pres- 
ent time  surround  every  species  of  industry." — National  Watchman, 
March  16,  1894. 

-105— 


Reverting  to  the  last  table  of  money  volumes  from 
1810  to  1893  and  now  under  consideration,  there  are 
some  remarkable  phases  for  comment.  In  1816,  al- 
though terminating  the  second  English  war,  business 
was  brisk  in  every  direction.  In  two  years  seventy 
millions  were  annihilated  by  contraction.  Slowly  expe- 
rience forced  expansion. 

The  year  1837  is  the  year  usually  pointed  at  as  one 
of  disaster.  But  that  disaster  cannot  be  attributed  to 
overmuch  money,  but  to  a  general  contraction,  precipi- 
tated by  the  Banks,  and  to  a  failure  in  specie  payment. 
The  increased  currency  stimulated  enterprise  and  specie 
contraction  strangled  it.  This  same  criticism  may  be 
applied  to  the  years  1857-1858.  Although  from  1843  to 
1857,  covering  the  Mexican  war,  a  vast  expense  in  blood 
and  coin  had  been  incurred,  yet  there  was  no  strin- 
gency. And,  among  the  profoundest  blessings  of  the 
Century,  the  low  Tariff  of  1846  (Walker)  had  come  and 
left  its  imprint  upon  industrial  life — with  the  people 
fast  approaching  Free  Trade — as  shown  by  the  New 
England  manufacturers  demanding  further  reductions, 
and  all  Presidential  platforms  in  1856  being  silent  on 
the  question  of  Tariff.  But  the  miasma  of  contraction 
spread,  and  1858  saw  a  panic.  The  people,  sickened 
with  its  disease,  obtained  a  partial  remedy  in  the  issu- 
ance of  $20,000,000  U.  S.  Treasury  Notes. 

Next  came  the  besom  of  destruction,  sweeping  our 
land  with  its  terrible  marks  for  four  mournful  years. 
The  most  gigantic  war  in  the  world's  history  presented 
its  tragedies  of  woe.  The  Angel  of  Death,  passing  over 
the  fields,  found  few  homes  with  lintels  marked,  sacred 
from  his  touch,  and  so  he  left  a  million  epitaphs.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  this  calamity,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
in  1865,  "times"  were  good— emphatically  good  in  the 
sense  of  employment  for  all  in  field  and  shop.  Wages 
were  remunerative  and  products  sold  for  high  prices. 
In  truth  the  vision  of  the  prophet  was  realized,  for 

—106— 


swords  were  turned  to  ploughshares  and  plenty  was  at 
every  board  for  honest  toil. 

What  magician  waved  his  wand?  From  what 
hand  did  the  '* manna"  fall?  Summon  the  dead  and 
mighty  past  to  the  bar.  Bid  Truth  speak  from  the 
tomb  of  buried  dynasties.  Unroll  the  scrolls  of  the 
World's  finances.  Read  the  peans  of  national  triumphs 
and  the  epics  of  their  ruins.  There  is  from  them  all  but 
one  answer  to  the  question:  "There  was  plenty  of 
money  in  daily  use." 

Halt.  Reader !  Stand  there !  See  the  great  military 
army  resolve  into  the  victorious  industrial  army  and 
start  along  its  National  march.  The  Banners  were 
resplendent  in  1865,  and  now  they  are  tattered.  Then 
hope  and  opportunity  made  the  step  elastic  and  the  eye 
brilliant,  and  now  hope  is  dying  and  opportunity — to 
work — is  decreasing.  Then  the  average  money  per 
capita  was  $52.00 ;  now  it  is  $5.15.  One  meant  plente- 
ous comfort-  the  other  means  cruel  want.  Enough, 
sir,  the  vision  is  gone. 

Returning  to  the  same  table  for  its  last  lesson,  it  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  a  per  capita  basis  is  furnished  by 
the  amount  of  the  currency  in  business  at  the  close  of 
the  war.  It  is  given  above  at  $52  a  head,  although 
some  authorities  fix  $60  as  the  true  figure  at  that  date. 
If  Congress  should  fix  the  rate  at  $50  on  a  population 
of  68,000,000,  our  currency  would  to-day  be  $3,400,- 
000,000.  Therefore,  if  gold  and  silver  were  demone- 
tized, that  would  be  the  initial  sum,  to  be  increased 
with  the  population.  With  that  sum  Congress  should 
at  once  pay  the  annual  running  expenses  of  the  Nation, 
being  about  $300,000,000,  or  at  least,  whatever  part 
thereof  is  not  expressly  required  to  be  paid  in  coin.  By 
this  method  interest  would  stop,  and  in  the  course  of 
five  years  the  whole  would  get  into  the  hands  of  the 
people,  not  as  gifts,  but  in  payment  of  the  obligations 
of  the  Government.  Thereafter,  as  the  Constitution  has 

—107— 


committed  the  subject  of  currency  exclusively  to  Con- 
gress, it  could  enlarge  the  volume  as  the  exigencies  re- 
quired. This  power  is  already,  in  practice,  now,  exer- 
cised by  Congress.  Knowing  that  gold  and  silver  fur- 
nish an  inefficient  volume  of  currency,  Congress  resorts 
to  " paper"  to  get  the  supply,  and  by  " Greenbacks" 
and  National  Bank  Notes  determines  the  amount  of  our 
circulating  currency.  Hence,  in  adopting  a  scientific 
money  no  new  law  is  needed — no  new  practice  is  to  be 
invented. 

The  difficulties  that  have  always  attended  a  non- 
commodity  money  has  been  that  its  quantity  was  not 
limited  and  fixed  by  any  settled  policy  or  scientific  prin- 
ciple, and  that  it  has  not  had  impressed  upon  it  at  its 
birth  nobility  as  a  legal  tender  for  public  and  private 
debts,  and  non-redeemability  in  specie. 

These  objections  may,  can  and  ought  to  be  entirely 
obviated  by  Congress.  With  $3,400,000,000  so  guarded 
and  scattered  among  the  people,  does  any  one  believe, 
that  as  shown  by  Waite,  Census  statistician,  the  funded 
railroad  debt  would  have  jumped  from  $2,320,000,000 
in  1879  to  $5.464,000,000  in  1892,  or  that  lonns  from 
National  Banks  would  have  increased  from  $994,000,- 
000  to  $2,171,000,000,  or  those  of  Commercial  banks 
from  $378,000,000  to  $1,189,000,000  ?  Does  common 
sense  affirm  that  with  an  abundant  currency,  the  farm 
mortgages  would  have  bounded  from  $2,500,000,000 
in  1880  to  $6,000,000,000  in  1890,  or  that  comparing 
1889  with  1892,  that  the  figures  $4,547,000,000  could 
have  mounted  to  the  appalling  altitude  of  $8,000,- 
000,000. 

Does  any  honest  citizen  think  that  with  $50  a  head 
this  condition,  as  stated  by  Waite,  would  or  could  exist? 
He  says:  "The  total  net  private  indebtedness  of  the 
American  people  equalled  in  1880  but  $6,750,000,000, 
and  last  September  it  amounted  to  $19,700,000,000, 

—108— 


an  increase  of  $13,000,000,000  in  the  short  period  of 
twelve  years." 

What  ecomomist  dare  stake  his  reputation  in 
affirming  that  if,  commencing  with  1866,  there  had  been 
no  " contraction,"  but  a  constant  "expansion"  com- 
mensurate with  our  growth,  that  the  condition  revealed 
In  the  ensuing  quotation  from  Dr.  Soetbeer  could  have 
come  to  reality : 

"Taking  the  whole  one  hundred  articles  together,  we  find  that 
the  general  level  of  prices  was  higher  in  1866  than  in  1847-185O  by 
4.96  per  cent.  The  case  is  very  different  if  we  compare  the  average 
prices  of  1886  with  those  of  the  period  of  1871-1875.  This  becomes 
plain  if  we  compare  the  prices  of  different  groups  in  1871— '75  and 
in  1886.  Taking  one  hundred  at  the  prices  in  1871-'75,  we  find 
that  a  fall  in  prices  had  taken  place,  as  follows : 

per  cent. 

Group        I.    Agricultural  products 31 

Group      II.    Animal  products 23 

Group    III.    Southern  products 7 

Group    IV.    Tropical  products 12 

Group     V.    Minerals  and  metals 40 

Group  VI.    Textile  material 24 

Group  VII.    Miscellaneous 32 

For  all  the  one  hundred  articles  the  comparative  prices  show  a  fall  in 
1886,  compared  to  1871-'75  of  22  per  cent.  This  shows  conclusively 
the  fall  in  prices  of  commodities." 

The  learned  German  is  discussing  the  world  effects 
of  a  contracted  currency  arising  from  silver's  disabilities. 
But  his  deductions  are  applicable  to  our  own  territory, 
tending  to  show  the  falling  prices  of  all  products,  wrhen 
measured  by  the  single  gold  standard.  If  the  compari- 
son were  brought  from  1866  to  this  date,  August,  1894, 
the  American  decline  would  most  surely  reach  50  per 
cent. 

Does  not  the  patriot  tremble  at  the  political  dyna- 
mite wrapped  up  in  this  bundle  of  facts,  presented  by 
Dunning  ? : 

"Here  is  a  table  showing  the  debt  of  the  United  States  on  the  first 
day  of  July,  1866,  and  1884,  including  non-interest-bearing  green- 
backs, expressed  in  dollars,  and  also  in  the  things  working  folks  have 
to  produce  in  order  to  get  the  dollars  with  which  to  pay  debts  and 
interest : 

—109— 


Debt  in                     1866.  1885 

Dollars 2,773,000,000   1,830,000,000 

Beef,  barrels 129,000,000  135,000,000 

Corn,  bushels 2,000,000,000   3,000,000,000 

Wheat,  bushels 800,000,000   1,740,000,000 

Oats,  bushels 3,262,000,000  4,357,000,000 

Pork,  barrels 82,000,000  96,000,000 

Coal,  tons 213,000,000  400,000,000 

Cotton,  bales 12,000,000   34,000,000 

Bar  iron,  tons 24,000,000   40,000,000 

Almost  everv  product  of  labor  shows  the  same  result.  We  paid, 
from  1866  to"  1884,  on  the  public  debt:  Interest,  $1.870,000,000 
and  principal,  about  12  hundred  millions;  yet  we  find  what  there  is 
left  of  it,  when  measured  by  labor  or  the  products  of  labor,  is  fifty  per 
cent  greater  than  the  original  debt.  This  is  equally  true  with  regard 
to  State,  city,  corporation  and  private  debts,  which  reach  a  sum 
estimated  at  twenty  billions  of  dollars."— Philosophy  of  Price,  Edition 
of  1887. 

If  the  Bi-metalist,  or  the  divinely  anointed  devotee 
of  the  single  gold  standard,  will  condescend  to  substitute 
the  prices  of  1894  for  those  of  1885  in  the  table,  he  will 
face  the  most  terrible  array  of  figures  and  facts  that 
ever  betokened  human  woe,  and  prophesied  of  coming 
calamities.  If  he  can  stand  in  their  presence  and  assert 
that  "all  is  well,"  he  will,  if  weighed  by  patriotism  and 
scanned  by  morals,  become  of  all  the  ages  the  most  per- 
fect type  of  the  "  whited  sepulchre." 

This  falling  of  prices,  or  control  of  wages  by  control- 
ling the  volume  of  currency,  is  the  luscious  fruit  of  the 
tree  planted  by  Hazzard  in  1862.  After  thirty  years  of 
galling  servitude,  the  citizen  finds  the  debt  greater  and 
sees  the  day  of  deliverance  but  dimly  through  the  dark- 
ness. He  sweats  for  bread  by  day  and  at  night  seeks 
solace  on  a  class-taxed  pillow,  and  wakes  to  find  more 
interest  bonds  issued  for  the  autocrat  and  more  indus- 
trial bonds  for  the  plebian  laborer. 

But  perhaps  he  can  find  supreme  consolation  in  this 
comparison  between  the  relative  prices  of  his  commodi- 
ties in  1866  and  1894,  as  exhibited  by  this  table,  show- 
ing the  Increase  of  the  National  Debt  if  paid  in  Farm 
Products : 

—110— 


"Debt  in  1866,  $2,783,000,000.    Debt  in  1894,  $1,071,979,527. 

Products  necessary  to  Amount  Amount       Showing  actual 

pay  the  debt  as  per  Ig66  Igg4  increase  in. 

prices  at  that  time. 

Beef,  barrels 129,000,000        178,663,254         49,663,254 

Pork,  barrels 87,000,000        107,197,952         20,197,952 

Wheat,  bushels 1,007,000,000  2,143,959,014    1,136,959,014 

Oats,  bushels 3,362,350,000  4,287,918,028    1,025,568,028 

Corn  bushels 2,218.000,000  3,970,294,174    1,752,294,174 

Cotton,  Ibs.,  (1867)     7,092,000.000  15,313,993,242  8,221,993,242 

Coal,  tons 213,307,000         267,994,881         54,687,881 

Bar  iron,  tons 24,110,000  26,145,842  2,035,842 

—National  Watchman,  April  7,  1894" 

After  twenty-eight  years  of  honest  toil,  with  a 
population  doubled  in  numbers  and  its  productive 
force  vastly  augmented  by  mechanical  inventions, 
and  after  paying  two-thirds  of  the  debt,  this  gentle 
American  still  finds  that  he  has  to  raise  more  cattle, 
plough  for  more  cereals  and  dig  more  metals  to 
pay  this  nation's  debt  than  when  he  started.  But 
then,  beyond  the  delightful  contemplation  of  a  lofty 
statesmanship,  accountable  for  this  standing,  he  can 
spend  his  odd  time  in  answering  this  conundrum :  "Does 
this  condition  show  that  gold  has  risen  in  value,  or 
that  commodities  have  fallen  in  price?"  But  let  him 
not  dare  intrude  his  vulgar  presence  among  the  financial 
elect,  in  demanding  an  answer  to  this  other  foolish 
question  :  "  If  gold  has  risen  in  value,  how  has  the  gen- 
eral producer  of  commodities  been  bene  fitted  thereby?" 

To-day  the  condition  of  this  patient  American  may 
be  summed  up  in  one  awful  sentence :  He  owes  a  Na- 
tional, State,  Municipal,  corporation  and  private  debt 
of  $30,000,000,000— equal  to  $2,500  for  each  voter. 
Mr.  Walker,  a  Massachusetts  Representative,  in  Con- 
gress, estimates  the  general  debt  of  the  people  at  $32,- 
000,000,000.  On  this  sum  at  six  per  cent,  the  annual 
interest  is  $1,920,000,000.  The  crops  of  corn,  wheat, 
oats,  gold  and  silver  in  1892,  in  valnewere  $1,340,000,- 
000.  This  leaves  $580,000,000  of  interest  still  unpaid 
at  the  end  of  each  year.  In  the  face  of  this  most  infam- 

—111— 


ons  record,  for  the  man  who  in  derision  would  ask  the 
question :  "  Why  not  issue  Treasury  notes  and  pay  our 
debts  ?"  let  the  answer  be :  "Put  a  whip  in  every  honest 
hand  to  lash  the  rascal  naked  through  the  world." 

Fifth  :  The  last  proposition  Justice  Field  impliedly 
urged  in  the  case  cited  ( Julliard  vs.  Greeman  110  U.  S. 
Reports  421)  is  that  the  Printing  Press  should  be  repu- 
diated as  a  moneymaker.  The  proof  has  been  presented 
that  gold  and  silver  pass  from  their  baseness  as  com- 
modities to  the  dignity  of  money  solely  by  and  through 
legislative  sanction,  and  when  that  is  withdrawn  they 
immediately  fall  in  value  to  their  market  price  as  com- 
modities. It  is  certain  that  their  monetary  value  is 
created  by  the  statute.  Hence,  whenever  their  currency 
value  is  higher  than  the  market  price,  the  increased 
value  is  imparted  by  force  of  the  law. 

Thereby,  it  becomes,  at  least  as  to  the  excess,  FIAT 
money.  That  is,  the  Government,  as  it  were,  has  taken 
the  Latin  word  "fiat,"  meaning,  "Let  it  be  made,"  and 
translated  it  into  the  Anglo-Saxon  of  our  times,  by 
saying  to  a  mass  of  gold,  costing  thirty -two  cents,  or 
silver  costing  forty-one  cents  each  in  labor  for  produc- 
tion, "Be  thoua  Dollar,"  and  Lo !  as  the  olden  mandate 
ran,  "Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,"  so, 
when  the  all-potent  sovereign,  Uncle  Sam,  prints  on  one 
side  of  that  metal  the  word  "  Liberty ,"  and  on  the  other 
side,  "In  God  we  trust,"  it  becomes  a  Dollar  in  value 
and  carries  in  that  stamp  the  intellect,  conscience  and 
command  of  seventy  millions  of  Free  Americans. 

It  has  been  contended  that  the  metals  had  stability 
because  they  cost  for  production  a  value  in  labor  equiv- 
alent to  their  money  value.  This  cannot  be  true,  for  no 
miner  would  spend  a  dollar  in  labor  for  a  dollar  in 
money.  The  labor  costis  always  less  than  the  money 
value.  Therefore  there  is  in  every  coin  a  fiat  value. 
In  gold,  taking  a  general  average  of  producing  in 
the  United  States,  costing  thirty-two  cents  for  mining, 

—112— 


or  as  some  claim,  only  twenty-two  cents,  to  the  dollar, 
the  remainder  is  pure  fiat.  In  one  hundred  Nickels, 
worth  $5.00,  there  is  less  than  seventy  cents  of  gold 
value.  From  where  does  the  money  value  of  $4.30 
come  ?  The  law  creates  it. 

Why!  the  $55,000,000  of  silver  bullion  resting  at 
this  moment  safely  in  the  Treasury  at  Washington  is  an 
absolute  example  of  ''fiat."  The  grandiloquent  and 
mystify  ing  term  "seinorage"  means,  that  the  Government 
bought  silver  at  the  market  price,  paying  for  it  a  net 
sum  of  money,  and  that  the  same  bullion  so  bought  will 
coin  up  into  $55,000,000  more  than  the  cost  and  be  a 
clear  gain.  But  if  the  Government  can  constitutionally 
apply  its  "  fiat  "to  gold,  nickel  and  silver,  does  there 
seem  to  be  any  legal,  economic  or  moral  reason  why  it 
cannot  apply  the  same  "fiat"  to  paper?  If  not,  then 
the  printing  press  is  as  fit  to  spread  light  and  hap- 
piness now,  as  it  was  when  it  gave  the  human  soul 
power  to  dispel  the  gloom  of  the  "Dark  Ages"  and  gave 
civilization  its  luminous  wings  to  rise  from  the  degrad- 
ation of  the  Fifteenth  Century. 

Again,  the  printing  press  is  now  the  ready  instru- 
ment of  Finance  and  performs  the  greater  part  of  the 
world's  business.  "Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that"  nearly 
the  whole  volume  of  exchanges  is  consummated,  not  by 
coin,  but  by  paper  ?  The  Comptroller  of  Currency,  in 
his  Report  for  1890,  shows  that  he  addressed  6,922 
Banks,  and  received  replies  from  6,838,  as  to  the  kinds 
of  money  handled  by  them.  He  says : 

"  By  consolidating  the  several  items  into  two  classes,  we  find  that 
8.96  per  cent  was  in  cash,  and  91.04-  per  cent  in  checks,  drafts  and 
other  substitutes  for  money.  Our  attention  is  at  once  drawn  to  the 
fact  that  the  total  receipts  for  September  17  are  $94,546,475  less 
than  for  July  1, 1890.  This  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  great  stringency 
in  the  money  market  prevailing  at  the  latter  date.  Of  this  difference 
$92,678,085  is  found  in  the  items  which  represent  substitutes  for 
money 

The  Report  further  shows  on  July  18, 1890,  the  Nation- 
al Banks  owed  $2,030,997,143,  and  4515  other  Banks 

—113— 


owed  $2,640,355,620,  and  that  they  had,  counting  all 
kinds  of  money,  $478,316,694.  They  could  thus  easily 
pay  their  debt  in  cash,  excepting  the  insignificant  frac- 
tion of  90  per  cent  thereof.  But,  on  July  12,  1893, 
(Comptroller's  Report,  240),  a  much  more  felicitous 
condition  is  exhibited : 

State  Banks  owed  debts $1,130,725,537 

Savings  Banks  owed  debts 2,013,775,14-7 

Private        "  "      107,843,343 

National     "  "•      3,109,563,284 

Loan  &  Trust  Companies  owed  debts 726,664,506 

Total $7,088,571,817 

Now,  dividing  this  insignificant  debt  by  the  money, 
$5 15, 987,740,  then  in  their  banks,  there  comes  a  halting 
consciousness  that  the  creditors  would  get  their  hungry 
souls  satisfied  with  seven  per.  cecit  on  the  dollar.  The 
other  ninety-three  per  cent  would  rest  securely  on  that 
beautiful  thing  called  " confidence."  In  other  words, 
as  the  coin  is  entirely  insufficient  in  quantity,  they 
transact  nine-tenths  oi  their  business  in  "substitutes 
for  money."  When  the  cyclone  of  a  "stringency"  comes 
in  at  their  doors  they  hang  out  the  dulcet  word  "sus- 
pended," or  in  plain  violation  of  law  they  issue  sixty- 
three  millions  of  clearing-house  certificates,  as  in  1893, 
and  urge  Congress  to  issue  more  bonds,  and  to  sustain 
labcr  and  agriculture  by  a  further  contraction  of  the 
ncy. 

The  same  necessity  produces  the  like  effect  in  Eng- 
land, as  is  revealed  by  this  table : 

Coin.  Notes.  Checks 

Per  cent.  Per  cent.  Per  cent. 

Lcnclon 73  2.04  97.25 

sbure 55  12.67  86.78 

Dublin 1.57  8.53  89.90 

Country  banks  in  261  places 15.20  11.94  72.86 

The  London  Economist,  on  November,  1890,  tabu- 
lated eleven  Banks  as  owing  $848,000,000,  and  having 
cash  on  hand  $87,000,000.  This  shows  they  had  10.3 

—114— 


cents  to  pay  on  each  dollar  of  liability.  Now  the  same 
pertinent  question  comes  again  for  answer.  If  from 
necessity  the  business  of  this  country  is  done  on  an 
average  of  ninety-five  per  cent  paper,  what  is  the  reason 
that  at  the  command  of  the  august  law,  it  cannot  all 
be  so  done  ? 

It  would  be  individual  suicide  and  public  death  to 
attempt  to  make  all  exchanges  in  coin.  Industrial  par- 
alysis would  instantly  ensue.  Serious  contemplation 
by  Congress  of  the  effort  to  do  so  in  coin  would  be  re- 
garded as  insanity  by  all  classes  of  our  people.  Neces- 
sit}'  has  therefore  defied  the  limitations  of  coin,  and  by 
common  consent  has  created  a  business  currency  in 
checks,  etc. 

Therefore  custom,  the  child  of  necessity,  has 
.bestowed  upon  the  printing  press  the  exalted  pre- 
rogative of  a  money-maker.  What  is  this  custom 
but  a  solemn  protest  against  the  slavery  of  the 
barbaric  past?  Because,  along  the  centuries,  gold 
and  silver  have  been  dignified  with  mone\r  functions, 
does  that  imply  that  this  civilization  is  forbidden  to 
march  out  of  the  realm  of  the  material  into  that  of  the 
mental,  moral  and  spirittial?  This  worship  of  the 
visible  is  one  of  the  old  forms  of  man's  ignorance,  when 
he  fashioned  his  God  in  stone,  because  his  mind  was  too 
poor  to  grasp  a  spiritual  conception.  The  pagan  sees 
the  object  of  his  worship  in  his  idol,  but  the  philosopher 
mentally  recognizes  the  omnipresence  of  God  and  com- 
munes in  silent  reverence.  So  here,  in  the  early  days 
man  accepted  the  metals  as  visible  symbols,  and  has 
not  yet  broken  away  from  the  influence  of  primitive 
times.  In  this  as  in  other  matters  his  growth  is  an 
evolution,  each  century  unfolding  some  new  represent- 
ative advantage. 

It  was  first  pure  barter  of  one  thing  for  another. 
Then  an  exchange  of  one  product  for  an  agreed  "  visible 
medium"  carue  to  be  recognized.  This  in  turn  evolved 

—116— 


into  a  note  or  check,  the  representative  of  a  value  that 
was  vested  in  some  other  material  object,  a  house,  ship 
or  land.  Still  advancing  from  an  individual  liability, 
based  on  personal  knowledge  or  power  of  coercing 
payment,  a  person  parted  with  value  and  received  the 
obligation  of  a  partnership,  a  corporation,  city,  State 
or  Nation,  based  in  the  last  two  cases  on  public  faith. 
The  creditor  well  knew  that  he  was  powerless  against 
repudiation  by  a  whole  people,  and  yet  he  preferred 
their  promise  to  pay  above  all  other  investments. 

From  individual  hiding  places,  the  possessor  gradu- 
ally removed  his  coin  or  bullion  and  deposited  it  in  Banks, 
again  trusting  to  honor.  Still  expanding  in  lines  of 
co-operation,  the  ideas  have  slowly  grown  that  public 
Banks  are  the  safest  depositories  of  one's  treasures. 
That  Nations  should  establish  all  Banks  and  issue  all 
money,  is  the  only  step  to  be  taken. 

Against  this  consummation  there  are  arrayed  the 
idolater  of  the  musty  past  and  the  special  privilege 
holder.  Every  progressive  step  in  the  unfolding  cycles 
of  known  history  has  been  bitterly  opposed  by  them. 
As  a  rule  no  man  holding  a  special  franchise  has  been 
willing  to  surrender  it.  No  matter  how  obtained,  by 
fraud  or  force,  he  has  clung  to  it  and  cried  out  "It's 
sacred — hands  off." 

The  Fuedal  Baron  summoned  his  train  and  by 
stealth  or  sword  took  the  product  that  another  had 
made,  claiming  his  ownership  in  man  and  soil,  and  that 
same  fuedal  grandee,  once  in  Scotland,  Hungary,  France 
and  elsewhere,  could  sanctimoniously  go  from  swinging 
censers  to  and  occupy  the  bridal  couch  of  a  dependent 
tenant  on  his  first  marriage  night,  and  be  upheld  by 
society  in  the  desecration.  Where  now  is  the  custom's 
defender? 

By  the  alleged  imposition  of  heavenly  hands,  every 
monarch  of  the  Old  World  once  held  his  crown,  and  the 
"divine  right''  was  conceded,  and  the  people  most 

—116— 


affected  were  ignored.  Still  the  heresy  has  been  over- 
turned. 

Slavery,  which  is  but  the  taking  all  of  another's 
labor,  was  once  as  firmly  imbedded  in  society  as  the 
present  ownership  of  land.  Since  the  passion  of  Geth- 
semane  the  fight  for  its  abolition  has  been  on  among 
Christians ;  and  yet  this  generation  alone  has  seen  the 
victory. 

It  was  once  declared  with  awful  solemnity  that 
the  sun  swung  in  space  around  our  earth  as  its 
center.  With  equal  emphasis  it  was  cried  that  the 
principles  of  gravitation  put  Deity  out  of  the  universe, 
and  hence  could  not  be  true.  Who  now  proclaims  these 
dogmas  ?  The  hand  of  Truth  has  wiped  them  off  the 
tablet  of  accepted  fact,  and  has  reared  the  tributes  of 
love  for  its  devotees.  • 

The  like  narrowness  would  not  read  aright  the 
ciphers  on  the  rocks,  attesting  the  nameless  antiquity 
of  man,  and  has  stood  ever  set  against  all  the  facts  of 
evolution  as  shown  by  science,  for  fear  the  Almighty 
would  be  dethroned  from  the  soul  of  man. 

The  World  said  Columbus  was  a  dreamer,  and 
jogged  on  its  beaten  track,  with  an  ever  decreasing 
currency  binding  its  brawn  and  brain.  Yet  he  dreamed 
a  hemisphere  into  being,  and  broke  the  stagnant  sleep 
of  fifteen  centuries  by  finding  more  money. 

That  same  world  wondered  at  the  kite  of  Franklin, 
and  little  thought  that  in  its  string  ran  the  electric 
current  that  but  yesterday  chained  Niagara,  and  will 
yet  light  and  carry  all  mankind. 

Since  the  first  fig-leaf  garment  was  sewed,  woman 
has  stitched  away,  and  would  have  laughed  at  the  folly 
of  him  who  had  said  that  the  needle's  eye  should  be  at 
the  point,  and  yet  now  so  it  is. 

Science  has  changed  its  attitude  as  to  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  vaccination,  bleeding,  denial  of  water  in 
fevers,  treatment  of  insanity  as  a  disease  instead  of  a 

—117— 


crime,  contagion  of  consumption,  and  plagues  arising 
from  lack  of  sanitation  and  not  from  the  imperious 
displeasure  of  the  Great  Father.  Many  positions, 
assumed  as  safe  and  wise  in  agriculture,  transportation, 
war,  State,  National  and  International  affairs,  have 
been  abandoned  as  no  longer  tenable.  Education  is 
slowly  turning  from  the  classics  as  essentials  to  indus- 
trial knowledge  as  necessary  for  the  life  combat. 

Even  Religion — most  remarkable  of  all — is  losing  its 
hold  on  the  battlements  of  denominational  creeds  and, 
meeting  unarmed  on  a  level  plain,  ;s  learning  to  recog- 
nize a  common  fraternity  in  origin,  relations,  life,  duties, 
mission  and  immortality  of  man.  The  Great  Creeds, 
dropping  their  quarrels  at  the  Manger,  ceasing  their 
polemics  as  to  the  origin  of  evil  and  as  to  incarnation, 
etc.,  and  joining  in  a  world-wide  Parliament  of  religions, 
are  uniting  in  the  general  belief  of  the  one  motherhood 
of  earth,  the  one  brotherhood  of  humanity  and  the  one 
fatherhood  of  a  Merciful  Creator. 

These  things  and  a  thousand  others  like  them,  and 
of  which  they  are  partial  examples,  have  come  into 
man's  consciousness  slowly,  painfully  and  only  been 
accepted  by  degrees.  Here  and  there,  Fate  has  dropped 
the  crown  of  martyrdom  for  their  advocates.  At  all 
times  Conservatism  has  turned  fiercely  on  the  innovator 
and  dubbed  him  CRANK.  Yet  that  despised  Crank, 
taught  by  the  past,  dissatisfied  with  the  present  and 
scanning  the  future,  has  ever  been  the  pathfinder  for 
progress,  the  projector  of  enterprise,  and  the  architect 
of  each  civilization.  The  world's  benefactors  have  been 
hissed  to  scorn  in  one  age  and  in  the  next  crowned  with 
honor  for  their  worth. 

So  in  this  contest,  involving  man's  ownership  of 
himself,  the  privilege-holder  will  contend  for  every  inch, 
and  at  last  fall  before  and  beneath  the  tread  of  a 
triumphant  democracy,  that  will  grant  and  consecrate 
for  every  child  of  man  lull,  free  and  equal  access  to  the 

—118— 


opportunities  of  nature.  That  child  must  know  no 
master  between  himself  and  his  Maker,  no  home  but  his 
broad  country,  no  air  but  that  of  freedom,  no  sunlight 
that  is  dimmed  with  industrial  or  political  slavery. 

Against  this  equality,  so  dependent  for  its  realization 
upon  the  printing  press,  in  obeying  the  majesty  and 
sovereignty  of  a  mighty  people  in  making  and  controll- 
ing the  currency,  Justice  Field  has  arrayed  himself,  as 
did  the  Tory  of  our  olden  days  against  the  march  of  self- 
government,  and  when  the  triumph  shall  come  in  the 
freedom,  born  of  a  free  money,  he  will  be  admired  as 
was  the  "  silly  Thracian  shooting  his  harmless  arrows 
at  the  thunderbolts  of  Jove." 

To  "paper  money"  there  still  remain  some  objections 
for  a  brief  consideration.  It  is  gravely  asked,  "How 
can  we  pay  foreign  debts  without  gold  ?"  So  far  as  the 
Government  is  concerned  it  does  not  owe  one  cent  of 
foreign  debt.  Its  obligations  are  all  incurred  on  its  soil 
and  payable  here,  and  contracted  with  the  well  under- 
stood legal  reservation  that  it  can  pay  them  in  "lawful 
money."  As  it  has  the  right  and  power  to  make  money, 
vested  by  the  Constitution,  and  so  declared  by  its 
Supreme  Tribunal,  and  has  the  men,  resources  and  arms 
to  enforce  its  laws,  the  creditor  must  accept  its  money 
or  go  unpaid.  With  scarcely  an  exception  its  bonds 
were  bought  with  "paper  money,  "for  its  debts  w^ere  not 
based  on  gold  but  on  Treasury  notes.  This  is  put  on 
the  authority  of  Senator  Sherman,  who  wrote  to  A. 
Mann,  March  20,  1868,  this  letter: 

"I  think  the  bondholder  violates  his  promise  when  he  refuses  to 
take  the  same  kind  of  money  he  paid  for  the  bonds.  If  the  case  is  to 
be  tested  by  law,  I  am  right ;  if  it  is  to  be  tested  by  Jay  Cooke's 
advertisements,  I  am  wrong.  I  hate  repudiation,  or  anything  like  it, 
bat  we  ought  ncft  to  be  deterred  from  doing  what  is  right  by  fear  of 
undeserved  epithets.  If  under  the  law  as  it  stands  the  holders  of 
five-twenties  can  only  be  paid  in  gold,  then  we  are  repudiators  if  we 
refuse  to  pay  it  otherwise.  If  the  bondholder  can  legally  demand  only 
the  kind  of  money  he  paid,  then  he  is  a  repudiator,  an  extortioner,  to 
demand  money  more  valuable  than  he  gave." 

—119— 


It  was  in  harmony  with  his  speech  of  Feb.  27, 1868, 
saying  : 

"  Equity  and  justice  are  amply  satisfied  if  we  redeem  these  bonds 
at  the  end  of  five  years  in  money  of  the  same  kind  and  of  the  same 
intrinsic  value  existing  at  the  time  they  were  issued.  Senators  are 
sometimes  in  the  habit,  in  order  to  defeat  the  argument  of  an  antag- 
onist, of  saying  that  this  is  repudiation.  Why,  Sir,  eve^  citizen  of 
the  United  States  has  conformed  his  business  to  the  legal-tender 
clause.  He  has  collected  and  paid  his  debts  accordingly.  Every 
State  in  this  Union,  without  exception,  has  made  its  contracts,  since 
the  legal-tender  clause  became  law,  in  currency  and  paid  them  in 
currency." 

There  never  has  been  any  consideration  passed  to 
the  Government  for  any.  of  its  subsequent  legislation, 
whereby  it  promised  coin  payment.  As  a  bond  is  a 
simple  contract  for  payment  of  money,  it  should  be  so 
construed,  and  hence  the  subsequent  promise  being 
without  a  new  consideration  paid  by  the  creditor,  is 
voidable  at  the  option  of  its  maker.  -At  the  time  of  the 
passage  of  the  modifying  legislation,  the  status  of  the 
purchaser  had  not  been  changed,  therefore  it  was  a  mere 
governmental  gratuity,  and  as  the  bondholder  has  still 
his  same  and  orfginal  status,  he  cannot  complain  of  bad 
faith  or  suggest  repudiation,  if  the  Government  should 
now  return  to  its  original  policy  of  paying  in  its  "lawful 
money.9' 

But  it  is  said  that  there  are  private  debts  that  do 
not  fall  under  this  category.  The  municipal  law  is  pre- 
sumed to  enter  into  the  terms  of  all  contracts  made  in 
this  country,  unless  they  specifically  provide  otherwise, 
and  such  contracts  are  executed  always  with  the  implied 
legal  understanding  that  the  laws  may  be  changed. 
Therefore  all  private  contracts  made  here  are  fully  com- 
plied with  if  payments  are  made  in  the  lawful  money  of 
the  realm.  If  the  contract  is  silent  as  to  the  kind  of 
money,  then  the  subject  is  beyond  the  qontrol  of  the 
creditor  who  must  come  here  and  submit  to  our  juris- 
diction in  order  to  enforce  payment. 

But  it  is  and  will  be  said  that  foreigners  will  not 

—120— 


sell  to  us  unless  we  pay  in  gold.  This  is  a  pure  assump- 
tion, based  on  neither  experience  nor  probability.  If 
the  foreigner  found  paper  currency  in  this  country 
performing  all  gold  coin  functions  and  capable  of  pur- 
chasing as  much  of  any  product,  there  would  be  no 
object  for  his  refusal.  Trade  is  always  reciprocal  and 
deals  with  products.  If  he  sold  his  goods  for  "^aper"  and 
immediately  converted  it  into  American  goods,  suitable 
to  his  home  market,  he  would  be  satisfied  without 
speculation  as  to  the  philosophy  of  the  currency. 

But  overlooking  this  plausibility,  there  is  nothing  of 
merit  in  the  proposition.  When  the  foreigner  in  exchange 
for  his  merchandise*  receives  our  gold  coin,  the  sweetly 
beautiful  faith  of  the  single  metal  standard  advocate 
passes  into  the  delirium  of  ecstacy.  But  let  the  blissful 
believer  push  his  inquiry  to  finding  out  how  the  wily 
foreigner  treats  his  adored  gold,  and  he  will  see  it  con- 
sidered as  a  commodity.  The  United  states  stamp  will 
be  simply  taken  to  say  there  are  so  many  grains  of  gold 
of  a  certain  fineness.  By  this  determination  it  passes 
to  a  bullion  value.  Into  that  value  the  market  price  of 
the  world  has  entered.  Inestimatingits  payingcapacity 
it  is  no  longer  coin,  but  plain  bullion.  It  is  now  on  the 
level  with  wheat  or  iron — the  law  of  supply  and  demand 
operating  to  fix  its  value.  Its  legal  tender  quality  is 
gone.  It  is  mere  native  gold,  purified  of  its  dross  and 
derives  no  significance  from  its  stamp,  except  indexing 
the  number  and  fineness  of  its  grains.  In  foreign  trading 
it  is  not  now  and  never  has  been  received  as  coin.  As 
bullion,  with  value  fixed  by  the  world's  markets,  it  has 
paid  for  the  foreign  goods,  and  when  it  arrives  at  its 
destination,  its  old  and  idolized  stamp  is  destroyed  by 
remintage  abroad. 

For  there  is  no  such  thing  known  as  international 
money.  Each  nation  in  this,  as  in  all  other  internal 
policies,  makes  its  own  laws,  and  does  not  as  a  rule 
recognize  a  foreign  stamp  as  fixing  a  legal  tender  quality 

-121— 


to  a  coin.  On  the  contrary,  they  in  general  expressly 
decree  by  law  that  foreign  money  shall  not  circulate  as 
legal  tender.  There  is  deep  philosophy  in  this  restriction 
policy,  as  this  leaves-  to  each  nation  its  own  sovereign 
attributes  unimpaired  as  to  fixing  the  volume  of  its 
currency.  _  Every  nation  should  reserve  the  same  auto- 
nomy over  its  money  that  it  does  over  all  other  matters 
cf  domestic  concern,  As  it  is  enough  for  each  country 
to  legislate  for  its  own  people,  the  claim  for  an  interna- 
tional money  is  a  hallucination.  It  would  simply 
transfer  sovereignty  from  the  many  to  the  one.  As  the 
Financial  world  stands  to-day  in  humble  adoration  at 
the  throne  of  the  Gold  Power,  the  latter  would  by 
an  international  combination  acquire  unmeasured 
dominion  over  all  humanity  by  the  usual  and  potent 
energy  of  contraction  and  expansion.  So  long  as  each 
nation  is  master  of  its  own  finances  it  can  meet  an 
emergency. 

But  let  this  capacity,  or  rather  veto  on  such  discre- 
tion, be  transferred  to  a  central  authority  for  limitation 
and  each  nation  would  become  helpless  and  pass  beyond 
extrication.  There  are  no  means  so  certainly  prophetic 
of  Labor's  complete  degradation  as  the  adoption  of 
this  policy.  It  would  be  the  ultimate  realization  of 
Hazzard's  dream  "for  the  world's  conquest"  by  doling 
wages.  All  men  would  then  bow  the  knee  to  one 
master.  Empires  would  shake,  tremble  and  fall.  Re- 
publics would  forget  loyalty  to  their  own  citizens  in 
paying  homage  to  the  Power,  that  in  effect,  by  controll- 
ing the  currency,  could  grasp  the  sword  and  purse.  In 
substance,  though  not  in  name,  national  boundaries 
would  be  obliterated,  for  money  would  then  gain 
universal  sway.  It  would  pass  in  majesty  over  the 
wishes  of  individual  nations,  nullify  their  legislation  and 
veto  their  policies. 

Chieftains  have  planned  and  fought  for  dominion 
by  the  sword,  and  found  their  possessions  broken  by 

—122— 


rebellions  or  overturned  by  death.  Friends  of  their 
fellow  men  have  pushed  out  enterprizes  of  love,  and 
failed  to  overcome  the  obstacles  raised  by  creed  or  igno- 
rance. But  in  this  strike  for  supremacy  by  the  gold 
standard  there  lurks  no  rebellion  and  comes  no  death- 
there  bristles  no  creed  and  stammers  no  ignorance.  The 
most  dazzling  social  capacities,  profoundest  financiers, 
keenest  intellects,  and  daring  nerve,  are  all  united  in  a 
phalanx,  with  one  thought,  one  hope,  one  purpose,  one 
instrument  and  one  end. 

If  our  Nation  is  to  retain  its  independence  and  dis- 
charge its  responsibilities  to  its  citizens,  then  let  it  for- 
ever dash  "this  poisoned  chalice  from  its  lips."  If  liberty 
for  man  is  a  reality  and  not  "  an  irridescent  dream,'1 
then  it  can  only  be  preserved  by  our  country  following 
the  good  and  time-sanctioned  policy  of  Jefferson,  by 
avoiding  "all  entangling  alliances  with  foreign  na- 
tions." 

In  relation  to  foreign  Trade,  for  which  it  is  said 
coin  is  essential,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  domestic 
use  of  money  is  vastly  greater  than  its  foreign  use. 
This  is  shown  by  a  brief  comparison.  In  1893  the 
Imports  to  the  United  States  were  $866,400,922.  The 
Exports  were  $831,030,785.  If  no  barter  intervened, 
$1,697,431,707  were  required  to  effect  these  exchanges. 
This  represents  the  whole  foreign  trade.  The  total  Bank 
Clearances  in  the  sixty-nine  American  cities  having  Clear- 
ing Houses,  for  1893  were  over  $100,000,000,000.  For 
the  same  period  it  is  surely  a  low  calculation  to  place 
all  the  dealings  of  our  whole  people,  where  money  is 
used,  at  fifty  times  as  much  as  the  Bank  Clearances 
reach.  This  makes  $5,000,000,000,000  handled.  (Five 
Trillions — being  five  millions  multiplied  by  one  million.) 
It  is  a  sum  beyond  all  comprehension.  Which  should  be 
the  object  of  the  Government  to  supply  a  currency  for 
this  bagatelle  of  the  foreign  trade,  or  for  this  immense 
sum  used  in  domestic  exchanges  ?  These  figures  in  gen- 

—123— 


eral  show  that  to  one  dollar  used  in  foreign  trade,  we 
use  in  home  business  twenty-five  hundred  dollars. 

If  you  counted  $500,000,000,  gold  and  silver  coin, 
as  being  in  active  daily  circulation,  each  dollar  of  this 
sum  would  have  to  be  handled  Ten  Thousand  times 
yearly  in  order  to  do  its  share  in  our  home  exchanges. 
This  would  be  about  twenty-eight  exchanges  for  each 
dollar  for  each  day. 

As  each  government  is  supreme  over  its  own  subjects, 
it  can  furnish  the  volume,  kind  and  denomination  of  its 
own  money  for  their  use.  Therefore  it  can  say  and 
enforce  what  money  will  satisfy  the  terms  of  the  con- 
tracts between  its  own  citizens.  To  make  effective  its 
declaration,  it  can  limit  the  time  of  suits  and  following 
the  analogy  of  the  Statute  of  Limitations,  it  can  refuse 
to  permit  its  Courts  to  consider  the  original  merits  of 
any  case,  where  the  defense  of  tender  and  refusal  of  paper 
as  lawful  money  is  plead  and  proved.  Nay,  it  can  go 
further  and  attach  penalties  to  that  refusal.  For  the 
same  jurisdiction  exists  as  to  money,  as  calls  out  armies 
and  punishes  crime  and  treason.  The  Constitutional 
power  to  make  money  and  penalize  counterfeiting  is  left 
wholly  to  Congress,  and  it  may  clothe  its  currency  with 
terror  as  well  as  beneficence. 

It  would  redeem  all  torn  or  worn  currency  by  its 
surrender  and  the  issuance  of  more  in  its  place. 

It  becomes  a  pertinent  inquiry,  "What  will  become 
of  the  gold  and  silver  when  demonetized  by  oftr  law  and 
paper  substituted  ?"  The  question  presents  very  super- 
ficial difficulties  for  solution.  The  Government  owes 
some  obligations  payable  in  gold,  and  the  metals  could 
be  so  employed.  The  bullion  value  would  still  remain 
and  so  long  as  other  nations  retained  the  metals  as 
money,  they  would  enter  into  business  as  factors  and 
at  their  market  prices.  If  a  contract  were  payable  in 
gold  it  would  be  a  compliance  with  its  provisions,  if 
gold  of  the  fineness  and  weight  specified  and  implied 

—124- 


were  paid  the  creditor.  If  he  were  dissatisfied  with  such 
payment  then  he  would  be  a  repudiator,  because  not 
willing  to  observe  his  contract.  For  the  latter  is  always 
made  and  delivered  with  the  Sovereign  power  reserved 
by  the  nation  to  make  and  change  its  money,  without 
regard  to  its  effect  on  the  transaction. 

But,  waiving  all  rights,  and  dealing  with  its  citizens 
in  good  conscience,  the  Government  in  demonetizing 
the  metals  and  substituting  'paper, 'could,  and  doubtless 
would,  on  application  exchange  its  ' 'paper"  money  for 
the  bullion,  represented  by  the  coin  received.  Within  a 
decade  coins  so  taken  would  find  their  way  by  exchange 
into  the  metallic  circulation  of  other  nations  or  pass 
into  the  uses  of  Science  and  Art.  In  this  method  there 
would  be  no  loss  to  individuals  in  the  exchange.  If  any 
detriment  should  fall,  the  nation  should  bear  it,  even  to 
the  extent  of  totality — if  necessary.  This  system  would 
soon  eliminate  the  coins,  and  place  the  money,  as  to 
denomination,  volume  and  tender  power,  in  the  hands 
of  all  the  people,  speaking  through  Congress.  Its  vol- 
ume would  be  based  on  the  per  capita  or  percentage 
plan.  It  would  and  should  circulate  in  paying  the 
annual  expenses  and  the  debt,  consuming  at  once 
$2,000,000,000.  The  remainder,  fixed  in  amount  by 
Congress,  should  be  issued  within  a  short  period  for 
necessary  governmental  purposes.  National  industrial 
enterprises  would  furnish  an  illimitable  field  for  its  use. 

To  perfect  the  system  of  a  sole  and  exclusive  paper 
currency  and  retain  supreme  control  thereof,  the  aboli- 
tion of  all  bonds  and  banks  dependent  on  them  would 
inevitably  be  consummated.  In  their  place  the  Govern- 
ment would  institute  in  nearly  all  Post  offices  its  own 
banks,  accepting  personal  deposits.  Thefr  would  not 
be  run  for  profit  or  speculation,  but  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  surrounding  people  and  with  interest  so 
low  as  to  merely  cover  expense.  They  would  not 
pursue  the  policy  of  loaning  their  Deposits  and  tru 

-125- 


on  such  a  rate  of  interest  as  to  earn  from  fifty  to  a 
hundred  per  cent  on  the  actual  capital  invested,  or  upon 
the  average  cash  circulating  through  them.  In  other 
words,  as  all  private  Banks  now  do,  they  would  not 
take  a  given  sum  of  money  as  a  capital  and  then  loan 
it  from  ten  to  twenty  times  and  charge  full  interest,  say 
counting  discounts,  etc.,  ten  per  cent  on  the  amount 
loaned.  For  this  practice  results  in  the  Bank's  receipt 
of  fifty  to  one  hundred  per  cent  as  annual  interest  on  its 
original  cash  investment.  Government  Banks  would 
offer  no  inducements  lor  deposits  beyond  absolute 
safety  and  instantaneous  payment  on  demand,  and 
would  not  like  all  present  Banks,  speculate  upon  an 
indebtedness  due  to  their  depositors. 

This  beautiful  aptitude  for  accumulation  on  debts 
due  to  its  creditors  may  be  illustrated  by  the  examples 
of  the  two  most  prominent  Banks  inSan  Francisco  from 
their  figures  as  found  in  the  Bank  Commissioner's  Report 
for  1893. 

The  German  Savings  &  Loan  Society  on  a  capital  of  $1,000,00^ 
paid  up  in  coin,  had  on  hand  January  1,  1893,  money,  $1,478,155. 
and  therefore  had  a  large  excess  over  its  original  investment.  At  the 
same  date  it  owed  depositors  $30,327,159,  and  had  loaned  on 
security  $25,4-06,655.  Now  including  $4,960,289  for  real  estate, 
bank  premises,  and  bonds  owned  by  it,  and  at  an  annual  rate  of 
seven  per  cent  on  this  combined  outlay,  the  interest  would  be  $2,129,- 
806,  and  from  this  deducting  four  and  a  half  per  cent  for  depositors, 
$1,369,212,  and  there  remains  $760,674  for  profit,  and  again  sub- 
tracting their  expenses  $317,502,  and  the  esthetic  and  infinitisimal 
sum  of  $4-43,172  confronts  the  original  and  daring  stockholders  for 
the  annual  gain  on  the  million  investment.  As  the  Bank  had  on  hand 
$1,478,155,  none  of  its  money  was  in  circulation,  and  its  business 
was  transacted  on  its  debts  due  to  others. 

The  Bank  of  California,  on  July  1,  1893,  had  a  capital  of  cash 
paid  in  of  $3,000,000  end  had  on  hand  $1  407,726  money  avid 
demands  from  other  banks  $1,477,434  due  on  call,  and  thus  equiva- 
lent to  cash,  $2,885,160,  and  leaving  $114,840  out  in  use.  Its  loans 
and  investments  amounted  to  $9,042,726.  Ten  per  cent  on  this  is 
$904,272,  and  Chis  is  about  thirty  per  cent  on  the  original  t)i:t3 
million  investment,  treating  it  all  as  in  circulation.  But  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  Bank  had  of  its  own  money  on'y  $114,840  out 
in  acttuJ  circulation,  and  yet  it  was  collecting  on  $9, 04^,726,  an 
annual  interefjt,  and  this  in  effect  became  the  profit  on  an  actual  out- 
put of  $114,840. 

-126- 


Is  it  a  wonderful  feat  of  financial  necromancy,  or  is 
it  trading  on  one's  debts?  What  careful  business  in 
San  Francisco  can  make  a  showing  of  like  profits  in  the 
same  period.  The  same  analogies  and  deductions  are 
the  invariable  characteristics  of  all  private  banking  in 
the  whole  country. 

Here  is  an  estimate  by  Dunning  of  National  Bank 
profits : 

Interest  on  circulation  at  8  per  cent  at  an  average  of 

$250,000,000  for  thirty  years,  compounded $3,200,000,000 

Interest  on  deposits  average  $1,000,000,000,  for 

thirty yeais,  6  percent,  (compounded) 4,500,000.000 

Interest  on  bonds  for  thirty  years,  at  5  per  cent. 

(Weaver) 337,500,000 

Profits  on  bonds  bought  (Weaver) 137,500,000 

Total -.$8,175,000,000 

This  is  corroborated  by  Vest  (Senate,  Oct.  15,  1888) 
as  to  the  First  National  Bank  of  New  York  City  : 

From  1875  to  1888  inclusive,  the  Dividends  were $  2,535,000 

;'     Surplus 34,586,000 

Profits 8,888,100 

He  says : 

"  It  is  a  fact  that  commencing  with  $200,000  capital,  -which  • 
increased  in  April  1864  to  $500,000,  this  bank  has  realized  in  net 
profits  over  $10,000.000,  which  is  80  per  cent  per  annum  for  tv 
five  years  on  $500,000." 

Mr.  English,  candidate  in  1880  for  Vice-President, 
on  retiring  as  President  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Indianapolis,  reported  as  follows: 

"I  congratulate  the  stockholders  of  our  enterprise.     The  bark 
has  been  in  operation  fourteen  years  under  my  control,  v.'ith  a  c 
stock  of  $500,000.    In  the  meantime  it  has   voluntarily  ret 
$500,000  of  capital  stock  back  to  its  stockholders,  besides  paying, 
them  in  dividends  $1,496,250,  part  of  which  was  gold,  and  I  now 
turn  it  over  to  you  with  capital  unimpaired,  and  $327,000  of  the 
undivided  earnings  on  hand.    To  tliis  might  be  added  the  premiums 
of  United   States  bends  at  present  prices  amounting  to  $36.000, 
besides  quite  a  large  amount  for  lost  or  destroyed  bills." 

The  items  of  profit  are  as  follows : 

-127- 


Returned  to  stockholders $    500,000 

Dividends  to  stockholders 1,496,000 

Undivided  earnings 327,000 

Premiums  on  bonds 36,000 

Lost  or  destroyed  bills 24,000 

Total ...$2,383,250 

These  profits  reach  over  $160,000  a  year,  netting 
more  than  thirty  per  cent  annually  on  the  original  in- 
vestment of  $500,000.  Have  the  Indiana  farmers  and 
mechanics  grown  in  wealth  at  the  same  ratio?  Most 
likely,  since  in  this  year  they  cry  for  "  bread  or  work"  in 
the  dulcet  hoarseness  of  mobocracy.  In  the  meantime 
the  generous  banker  feels  deep  commiseration  for  the  neg- 
lected heathen — and  is  so  touched  in  his  profoundest  sym- 
pathies that  he  would  hold  a  sunshade  over  the  jolly  crow 
while  picking  the  farmer's  corn .  To  perpetuate  the  sweet- 
est tone  of  once  loved  songs-to  weigh  the  odor  of  a  flower 
—to  see  the  sunlight  turned  into  the  luscious  peach,  or 
to  know  if  Eve  had  sun-kissed  bangs — to  comply  with 
Huntington's  monopolizing  request  to  bottle  up  our 
sunlight  for  sale — to  compare  in  the  scales  of  conscience 
the  hardness  of  Carnegie's  heart  towards  his  employees 
and  the  hardness  of  his  armor  plate  sold  to  Uncle  Sam 
for  his  ships,  or  to  master  the  secrets  of  dreams,  sleep 
and  death — to  get  well  acquainted  with  the  first  atom 
of  matter — to  measure  thought's  last  wildest  sweep  in 
space,  would  be  triumphs  to  which  the  grandest  mortal 
could  aspire.  The  doing  of  any  one  of  them  would  be 
glory  enough  for  any  man.  Yet  these,  and  all  of  these, 
that  same  farmer  would  doubtless  willingly  forego  and 
lack  their  accomplishment,  if  he  could  be  resolved  in 
conscience  at  which  to  shoot  as  his  greater  enemy — the 
crow  or  the  banker. 

By  imitating  the  Postal  Banks  in  successful  working 
in  many  foreign  countries,  and  in  following  the  wisdom 
of  our  Money  Order  system,  the  line  of  present  use  and 
future  improvement  in  the  proposed  Government  Banks 

—128— 


is  marked  .with  clearness.  In  supplying  the  people  with 
loans  upon  recognized  financial  security,  interest  would 
be  low.  It  would  be  fixed  at  a  figure  so  as  only  to 
make  the  Department  self-sustaining.  Beyond  this  it 
would  not  go,  for  the  philosophic  reason  that  taxation 
in  no  way  .can  lawfully  or  morally  exceed  governmental 
needs. 

The  following  form  would  embody  all  that  is  essen- 
tial for  the  paper  currency  to  express : 

"This  is  a  dollar.  It  is  issued  by  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  of  America  as  its  lawful  money.  It 
is  a  legal  tender  for  all  debts,  public  or  private,  and 
shall  be  received  in  payment  thereof. 

Washington,  DC.,  August  1894. 

..  Secretarv  of  the  Treasury.'1 

* 

This  would  be  the  command  of  a  Nation,  vested  by 
its  sel '-created  Constitution  with  potency  to  say — "This 
is  my  money.''  It  would  come  without  any  commodity 
value  and  be  independent  of  bullion  markets  for  its  pur- 
chasing power.  Its  volume  would  not  be  dictated  by  a 
foreign  autocrat,  nor  fixed  by  a  self-consecrated  priest- 
hood of  home  financiers,  makingit  to  contract  or  expand 
at  their  selfish  greed.  By  this  dollar  would  stand  the 
fighting  strength  of  our  manhood.  Behind  it  would 
stand  the  entire  property  of  our  whole  people.  In  it 
would  inhere  the  command  of  the  Constitution  and 
highest  law  made  thereunder.  Over  this  Dollar  would 
float  "Old  Glory,"  claiming  the  love  of  our  mighty 
millions  and  compelling  the  respect  of  the  united  world. 

Yet  to  such  a  Dollar  there  is  one  valid,  natural  and 
powerful  objection.  This  money  is  good  (or  all  contin- 
gencies save  one  and  only  one  and  this  one:  It  would 
be  worthless  if  this  Government  became  destroyed  with 
the  possibility  of  its  successor  annihilated,  together 
with  the  honesty  and  intellect  of  each  and  all  of  its  citi- 
zens forever  blotted  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

—  129- 


The  preceding  argument  may  be  briefly  recapitu- 
lated. 

1st.  As  all  our  people  by  natural  law  are  equal  in 
their  rights,  our  Government  is  instituted  for  the  control 
and  protection  of  those  rights,  and  being  based  on  con- 
sent, it  may  be  changed,  as  experience  justifies,  to 
produce  human  happiness. 

2nd.  As  the  heritage  of  history,  gold  and  silver 
came  to  us  as  coin  money  and  were  adopted  as  such  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  wealth  and  contentment 
among  our  people. 

3rd.  As  money  is  an  arbitrary  standard,  adopted 
by  law,  for  and  as  a  measure  of  the  value  of  all  other 
things,  it  should  have  absolute  certainty  and  permanence 
as  a  measure. 

4th.  The  experience  of  the  ages  and  the  solemn 
confirmation  of  present  conditions  conclusively  show 
that  gold  and  silver  are  wanting  in  the  qualities  of 
steadfast  fixity,  and  this  defect  arises  from  their  com- 
modity value  as  affected  by  the  market  price  of  their 
bullion  and  their  uncertainty  of  production,  and  that 
therefore  they  should  be  disrobed  of  all  money  functions, 
and  this  for  the  three  fundamental  reasons  following. 

5th.  The  costs  of  mining  and  minting  gold  and  silver 
are  very  great  and  may  be  obviated  by  other  infinitely 
cheaper  methods  for  the  people  as  a  whole. 

6th.  The  Nation  has  neither  legal  nor  moral  right 
t  to  select  the  industry  of  one  citizen  and  by  its  stamp 
impressed  on  his  product  create  a  value  therefor  above 
its  natural  and  market-price,  or  above  the  labor  involved 
in  its  production.  Gold  and  silver  mines  are  private 
enterprises  and  their  products  should  not  receive  any 
discrimination  in  their  favor  and  one  not  accorded  alike 
to  all  other  enterprises. 

7th.  By  the  commodity  value  oi  gold  and  silver 
and  the  limitation  of  their  quantities  and  their  private 
ownership,  they  become  sure  instrumentalities  for  effect- 


ing  and  controlling  legislation  to  the  advantage  of 
their  owners. 

8th.  The  Government  has  an  inherent  legal  right 
and  a  positive  moral  duty  to  provide  a  stable  currency 
for  its  people  and  "fix  its  quantity  and  power  according 
to  our  immense  needs  and  to  wisely  control  its  volume, 
so  as  to  avoid  sudden,  dangerous  and  unnecessary  con- 
traction and  expansion. 

9th.  Philosophy,  Law  and  Experience  combine  to 
show  that  a  paper  currency,  limited  in  quality  by  a  per 
capita  or  per  centage  plan  and  endowed  with  absolute 
legal  tender  power  for  all  public  and  private  debts,  may 
and  should  be  issued  by  the  United  States  Government, 
as  its  sole  and  exclusive  and  lawiul  money,  and  that  it 
will  when  so  issued  accomplish  its  mission  as  the 
perfect  money  of  the  grandest  people. 


There  remains  one  general  reason  for  the  radical 
change  of  our  fiscal  system,  and  it  derives  its  cogency 
from  the  mighty  and  eloquently  silent  dead.  This  earth 
has  been  one  great  arena,  where  each  nation,  now  dis- 
appeared, has  spent  youth,  maturity  and  decay.  They 
have  fallen  under  the  foot  of  the  Despoiler — Time — and 
along  their  ruin-scattered  tracks  they  have  left  testimo- 
nials, speaking  to  us  with  the  awful  meaning  of  death. 
From  atom  to  Star,  from  man  to  seraphim,  from  tribe  to 
nation,  there  hasdominated  thesway  of  cause  and  effect. 
This  principle  has  run  through  all  national  histories 
from  their  birth  to  death.  If  there  is  a  similarity  of 
manifestations  in  the  final  collapse,  it  is  logical  to 
impute  a  similitude  of  influences  tending  to  the  dissolu- 
tion. On  the  other  hand,  if  like  influences  are  present 
in  active  operation,  then  it  may  be  justly  expected  that 
their  results  will  have  the  same  character. 

Now,  keeping  these  principles  in  view,  an  analysis 
of  the  histories  of  buried  dynasties  will  lead  to  a  percep- 

-131— 


tion  in  each  and  every  case  of  the  same  influence  s,  as 
destroying  and  of  likeeffects  as  their  results.  Although 
thedata  of  correct  information  for  early  peru  c*s  are  few 
and  often  vague,  yet  the  truth  may  be  affi.mel  that 
when  their  national  life  began,  the  supren  e  gifts  of 
nature— Land,  Water,  Air  and  Sun-bine— wire  free  to 
all  the  citizens  of  the  commonwealth.  Hcnte,  having 
equal  opportunities  to  take  all  th<  se  natural  benefac- 
tions, they  were  in  substance  equal  in  product  and 
enjoyment.  In  the  piny  of  passion,  greed  and  ambition, 
this  equality  began  to  disappear,  and  one  set  of  men 
secured  a  monopoly  of  either  the  land  or  water  and 
therel)y  of  air  and  sunlight.  By  force  or  fraud  or 
ignorance,  the  special  privilege  of  taking  comj  L>te 
control  of  land  was  vested  in  one  and  the  many 
were  excluded  therefrom,  or  admitted  thereto  by 
yielding  tip  a  part  of  their  rights  for  the  alleged 
concession.  The  same  practice  extended  to  the 
streams  and  bays,  lakes  and  oceans.  To  cool  the 
thirst  at  this  spring,  or  sail  on  that  water,  was  pur- 
chased by  paying  tribute  to  some  alleged  master.  This 
choice  spot,  where  balmy  air  and  electrifying  sunlight 
spread  their  health-bestowing  blessings,  is  grasped  by 
asserted  special  ownership  and  the  many  are  forced  to 
less  favored  localities.  These  methods  slow.y  effected  a 
change  in  the  social  and  political  relations  of  the  people. 
In  the  earl  y  stage  each  owned  himself  and  thereby  owned 
all  of  his  product.  In  the  advanced  nation,  the  maker 
of  the  product  merely  owned  enough  of  himself  and  kept 
enough  of  his  labor  to  get  a  bare  subsistence,  and  the 
remainder  of  his  toil  went  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the 
special  privilege  holder,  who  had  parted  with  nothing 
of  his  rights  and  added  nothing  of  his  labor  to  the  thing 
taken.  Gradually  this  process  unfolds  its  innate  vicious- 
ness.  The  odor  of  this  flower — monopoly — floats  into 
the  walks  ot  individual  and  public  life.  No  spot  so 
obscure,  no  place  so  august,  that  distinction  in  rights 

—132— 


and  enjoyment  is  not  manifested. 

The  usual  insignia  of  this  baleful  distinction  are 
wealth  and  office.  One  is  a  direct  monopoly  of  natural 
opportunities,  and  the  other  is  a  monopoly  of  legisla- 
tion. Following  the  policy  of  selfishness,  these  two 
aristocracies  have  fraternized.  Wealth  has  supported 
the  decrees  of  office  and  the  latter  has  fashioned  legisla- 
tion to  maintain  and  increase  the  special  privileges  of 
the  former.  The  ultimate  effect  of  these  influences  ope- 
rating for  centuries  in  a  given  nation  has  been  to  concen- 
trate the  wealth  ai  d  the  power  in  a  designated  cla^s 
a  id  in  turn  to  chain  the  arm  of  the  laborer  to  hopeless 
toil,  and  f  jrbid  his  brain  to  queation  his  inferiority  and 
order  him  to  recognize  the  latter  as  a  divine  dispensation. 
As  a  sure  means  of  the  perpetuation  c  f  this  exaltation 
for  a  few  and  the  degradation  of  the  millions,  the  or- 
ganised fraternity  — Wealth  and  Office  — has  always 
with  an  iron  and  inflexible  hand  grasped  the  money- 
making  power  as  its  sole  prerogative.  In  addition 
to  holding  all  the  land  and  water  in  its  control,  the 
fraternity  has  fixed  the  quantity  and  value  of  the 
currency,  so  as  to  makeit  an  instrumentality  for  further 
enrichment. 

Now,  Nature  has  set  its  signet  on  man  to  this  unva- 
rying rule,  that  he  must  labor  to  maintain  his  manhood 
and  integrity.  By  possessing  wealth  not  created  by  his 
own  honest  toil,  his  moral  nature  is  perverted  and  his 
soul  becomes  the  temple  of  evil  thoughts,  eventuating 
in  cruel  acts.  On  the  other  hand,  when  man  finds 
himself  deprived  of  his  labor  forever  and  is  curbed 
in  all  his  honest  aspirations  to  impYove  his  circum- 
stances, his  moral  nature,  too,  is  blunted,  and  having 
nothing  to  lose  by  a  change  of  his  social  and  political 
condition,  he  loses  his  patriotism.  Thereby  honor  is 
driven  from  his  being  and  becomes  a  discarded  angel. 
In  this  condition,  with  vice  intrenched  in  power,  with 
brutality  imbedded  in  labor,  the  nation  has  grown  to 

—133— 


moral  rottenness,  and  decay  is  its  doom. 

The  confirmation  of  these  observations  is  amply 
evidenced  by  examples:  "When  Egypt  went  down,  2 
per  cent  of  her  population  owned  97  per  cent  of  her 
wealth.  When  Babylon  went  down,  2  per  cent  of  her 
population  owned  all  her  wealth.  When  Persia  went 
down  1  per  cent  of  her  population  owned  the  land. 
When  Rome  went  down,  1800  men  owned  all  the  known 
world.  There  are  about  40,000,000  people  in  England, 
Ireland  and  Wales,  and  100,000  people  own  all  the  land 
in  the  United  Kingdom." — Ignatius  Donnelly. 

The  same  Satanic  spirit  in  France,  before  her  great 
democratic  and  levelling  Revolution  at  the  end  of  the 
last  century,  had  placed  all  land  ownership  in  the 
Nobility  and  Church,  and  the  State  was  a  docile  servant 
of  their  wills.  The  civilization  of  the  higher  society  was 
symbolized  in  the  crime-stained  Bastile.  The  masses 
had  passed  to  vassalage.  Their  rage,  the  slow  growth 
of  ages  of  wrong,  found  a  fitting  expression  in  the  guil- 
lotine and  the  Commune. 

That  Revolution  swept  a  thousand  years  of  villainy  away  in  one 
swift  tidal  wave  of  blood— one:  a  settlement  of  that  hoary  debt  in 
the  proportion  of  half  a  drop  of  blood  for  each  hogshead  of  it  that 
that  had  been  pressed  by  slow  tortures  out  of  that  people  in  the 
weary  stretch  of  ten  centuries  of  wrong  and  shame  and  misery,  the 
like  of  which  was  not  to  be  mated  but  in  hell.  There  were  two 
"Reigns  of  Terror,"  if  we  would  but  remember  and  consider  it;  the 
one  wrought  murder  iu  hot  passion,  the  other  in  heartless  cold  blood ; 
the  one  lasted  three  months,  the  other  lasted  a  thousand  years;  the 
one  inflicted  death  upon  ten  thousand  persons,  the  other  upon  a  hun- 
dred millions;  but  our  shudders  are  all  for  the  "  horrors  "  of  the  minor 
Terror,  the  momentary  Terror,  so  to  speak;  Whereas,  what  is  the 
horror  of  swift  death  by  the  axe  compared  with  the  life-long  death 
from  hunger,  cold,  insult,  cruelty  and  heart-break?  What  is  swift 
death  by  lightning  compared  with  death  by  slow  fire  at  the  stake  ? 
A  city  cemetery  could  contain  the  coffins  filled  by  that  brief  Terror 
which  we  have  all  been  so  diligently  taught  to  s..iver  at  and  mourn 
over;  but  ail  France  could  hardly  contain  the  coffins  filled  by  that 
older  and  real  Terror— that  unspeakably  bitter  and  awful  Terror 
which  none  of  us  have  been  taught  to  see  in  its  vastness  or  pity  as  it 
deserves.— Mark  Twain  in  "  A  Yankee  at  King  Arthur's  Court." 

-134- 


Notwithstanding  these  calamities,  so  pregnant  with 
warning,  this  country  has  deliberately  set  up  a  precise 
imitation  of  the  methods  of  these  dead  nations  and  of 
those  still  so  pathetically  working  out  their  destiny  in 
tears,  misery  and  blood.  For  the  past  thirty  years,  the 
imitating  figures,  set  forth  by  onr  American  citizens,  are 
projected  on  the  canvass  of  history  and  stand  in 
mocking  pathos 

Here  is  the  tabulation  : 

Vear.       Assessed  value.       True  Value  (Eat., i  Owned  by  Capital  (about). 

1850  $  6.065,413,193  $  7.135,780,228  37}/2oj0  or$  2,675.917.585 
1860  12.119,712,051  16,159.616.068  50  "  "  8,079,808,034 
1870  14,734,774,068  30,068,518,50760  "  "  18.041,111,104 
1880  16,902.993,543  43.642,000.000  72  "  "  31,422,240,000 
1890  24,249,589,804  66,000,000,000  90  '•  "  59,400,000,000 
[These  fi^urse  are  taken  from  the  Census,  except  as  to  the  wealth 
owned  by  capital  in  1880  and  1890 — they,  are  estimated.] 

If  the  foregoing  table  be  substantially  correct,  then 
the  Capitalistic  appropriation  of  our  wealth  is  very 
rapid  and  great.  This  raises  a  question — "What  is 
Capital?"  A  fair  answer  is  this:  A  man  must  either 
live  on  his  own  labor  or  upon  the  income  of  his  invest- 
ment. If  he  can  do  the  latter,  then  he  is  no  longer  a 
laborer,  but  is  a  capitalist.  Mr.  Shearman,  (the  Statis- 
tician, in  his  Forum  article)  in  1890  estimated  there 
were  31,100  persons  who  each  had  $500,000.  But  at 
the  present  purchasing  power  of  gold,  expressed  in  com- 
modity prices,  the  yearly  income  on  $50,000  is  ample  to 
support  a  family  in  decent  luxury.  Then  using  $50,000 
as  a  quotient  for  the  estimated  wealth  of  capital,  $59,- 
400,000,000,  the  result  is  1,185,000  persons  who  each 
own  $50,000  or  more  and  add  nothing  by  labor  to  the 
common  stock.  This  is  the  true  capital  class.  The 
remaining  wealth,  distributed  ratably  among  our  other 
people,  about  sixt\--eight  millions,  would  probably 
reach  one  hundred  dollars  for  each  person. 

Is  this  not  treading  the  old  path  marked  byepitaphed 
nations?  The  search  among  their  archives  for  the  one 

-135— 


potent  cause  of  their  overthrow,  will  find  it  to  be  this— 
"The  overmastering  and  overwhelming  domination 
of  monopoly,  potentially  expressed  in  one  word  — 
MONEY."  Thereby  the  perfumed  Patrician  could,  from 
his  dainty  feast  on  nightingale's  tongues,  step  across 
tie  street  and  buy  the  imperial  crown  from  a  corrupted 
g  lard — itself  despising  the  plebians.  But  on  the  morrow 
came  internal  strife  and  by  proscription  crosses  every- 
where made  roadsides  ghastly  with  bleeding  victims. 
The  old  Mistress  of  the  World  knew  not  that  by  her 
wealth  concentration  and  by  the  degrading  of  her 
laborers,  she  herself  opened  her  gates  to  the  rough 
barbarians. 

When  a  presidential  nomination  is  the  debt  paid 
back  for  patronage  bestowed ;  when  it  is  the  bargained 
for  dictation  of  the  one  money  center  of  the  Country ; 
when  corporations  place  their  stockholders  and  attor- 
neys in  Senates  and  Cabinets;  when  Labor  is  forbidden 
to  approach  the  Capitol  to  present  a  petition  for  redress 
of  grievances,  as  permitted  by  the  Constitution ;  when 
$25,000  are  offered  as  a  bribe  for  a  Senator's  vote  on 
the  Wilson  Tariff;  when  a  Senator  votes  himself  $31,000 
as  a  sugar  bounty,  and  then  dons  the  ermine;  when 
a  "Blind  White  Devil  Boss"  buys  votes  at  $2.50 
each  to  elect  a  public  debauchee  in  the  guise  of  a  philan- 
thropist to  Congress ;  when  the  most  gigantic  spoliator 
of  the  age  silences  adverse  criticism  by  vast  educational 
benefactions ;  when  the  richest  single  organization  on 
the  continent  collects  usury-rent  from  poverty  and 
prostitution  to  spend  tor $100,000  Church  doors;  when 
a  Nabob  buys  a  royal  crown  for  $300,000  for  his  wife 
and  lets  the  needle-girl  across  the  street  die  for  want  of 
food ;  when  an  absentee  draws  $27,000  each  day  as 
rent  in  one  city  and  yet  produces  nothing;  when  a  con- 
dition exists  whereby  one  man  can  gain  $200,000,000 
and  in  the  same  block  dwells  a  mother,  who  works  daily 
for  eighteen  hours  to  live  and  cannot  spare  time  enough 

—136— 


to  bury  her  dead  baby ;  when  one-third  of  the  working 
strength  of  the  nation  is  unemployed  ;  when  the  Met- 
ropolitan Press  is  dumb  and  the  Pulpit  is  silent ;  when 
all  these  things  exist  and  when  they  come  into  being 
largely  through  a  -vicious  money  system,  what  is  the 
difference  between  the  Nineteenth  and  the  early  centuries  ? 

If  this  pursues  the  courses  of  the  old  nations 
how  can  it  expect  to  escape  their  fate?  Hence 
the  conclusion  comes,  there  must  at  once  be  a  halt  and 
a  retreat,  and  a  march  along  new  lines.  These  "hard 
times"  indicate  a  money  reform,  that  is  imperatively 
demanded. 

When  this  Government  breaks  away  from  the  idol- 
itry  of  the  past,  strikes  down  all  commodity  money, 
and  out  of  her  beneficent  Sovereignty  creates  a  logical 
and  honest  paper  currency,  then  it  will  in  truth  leave 
the  one  beaten  road  of  death  and  ruin  and  start  out  to 
a  realization  of  the  grandeur  of  its  peculiar  mission 
among  the  nations. 

Already  the  United  States,  with  70,000,000  of 
people,  in  a  single  century  have  marched  among  the 
nations  to  the  place  of  first  importance.  Russia,  with 
118,000,000,  India,  with  288,000,000  and  China,  with 
412,000,000,  alone  surpass  us  in  numbers.  The  first  is 
semi-barbaric ;  the  next  is  locked  in  the  sleep  of  ages ; 
and  the  last  is  in  the  vassalage  of  tyranny.  Thus  in 
reality,  even  these  three  are  trailing  America  in  the  race 
for  world  supremacy.  The  march  toward  that  suprem- 
acy is  heralded  by  the  growth  of  our  language.  In  a 
hundred  years,  the  French,  German,  Italian,  Spanish, 
Portuguese  and  Russian  languages  have  in  comparative 
ratios  stood  still,  while  the  English,  counting  the  pop- 
ulation of  these  seven  nations  all  together,  has  passed 
from  a  12  per  cent  ratio  of  the  whole  number  and  is 
now  used  by  27  per  cent  of  the  same  combined  popula- 
tion, and  under  the  silent  guides  of  trade  and  religion 
will  soon  be  in  all  this  wide  world  the  sole  speech  for  its 

-137- 


commerce,  science  and  diplomacy. 

Who  can  doubt  that  the  hand  of  a  grand  purpose  led 
our  ancestors  to  this  land  and  isolated  them,  so  as  to 
build  on  manhood  the  sublime  structure,  wherein  indi- 
vidual liberty  is  guaranteed  by  the  legal  sanction? 
This  is  in  harmony  with  a  great  law  peculiar  to  every 
people,  each  having  a  central  thought  in  its  life.  Juda- 
ism had  Deity's  nearness  to  its  people;  Greece  developed 
art  and  intellect ;  Rome  dreamed  only  of  martial  con- 
quest, as  grand  pivotal  ideas.  France  loves  agriculture, 
England  spends  her  energies  for  trade,  China  reveres 
the  past,  but  America  has  as  her  central  thought  in  the 
sweetest  word  in  the  language — Home.  All  our  laws  if, 
true  to  our  theory,  get  their  philosophy  and  their  inspir- 
ation from  their  contemplated  operation  on  the  home. 
Our  Judicial  decisions  apply  those  laws  in  sole  reference 
to  their  effect  on  the  home.  Our  social  and  public  life  is 
regulated  to  the  ordinances  of  the  sacred  institution, 
Home.  But  how  can  this  ideal  be  preserved  if  all  its 
guardians  are  debauched,  if  all  moral  influences  are 
contaminated,  if  all  political  movements  are  regulated 
by  the  selfishness  and  crime  of  a  tyrannic  money  creed? 
How  can  the  Golden  Rule  be  the  guide  of  life,  if  the 
nation  in  its  financial  legislation  is  ever  striking  at  the 
mother  and  child  with  the  lash  of  want  and  ever 
striving  to  bind  the  father  to  industrial  slavery  ? 

It  is  contrary  to  that  Gospel,  whose  message  is 
"good  will  to  men." 

"  The  Sepulchre  of  Christ  is  not  in  Palestine.  He  rose  from  that 
burial  place  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  He  is  crucified 
wherever  his  brothers  are  slain  without  cause;  he  lies  buried  wherever 
man,  made  in  his  Maker's  image,  lies  entombed  in  ignorance,  lest  he 
should  learn  the  right,  which  the  Divine  Master  gave  him." — Oliver 
Wendall  Holmes,  Oration,  July  4,  1863,  Boston. 

This  uplifting  fraternity  becomes  the  very  spirit  of 
all  men  when  they  breathe  the  air  of  Freedom,  untram- 
melled by  dogma,  unawed  by  Force,  undenied  Nature's 
gifts.  By  Nature's  decree  men  love  their  native  lands, 

—138— 


the  springs  and  rivers  radiant  to  their  youth,  the  cots 
and  temples  of  their  manhood.  They  glory  in  their 
country's  history,  and  at  its  altars  pour  out  their  blood 
for  its  preservation.  Every  land  has  its  heroes.  They 
have  walked  in  the  shadow  of  dispair — aye,  triumphed 
in  death — that  their  brothers  might  be  free.  And  so 
along  the  centuries  the  patriot  has  fought  for  wife  and 
babe*  and  for  the  land  where  sleep  his  sires.  If  one 
dropped,  a  comrade  grasped  his  sword  ere  it  fell;  one 
defeat  became  the  inspiration  for  a  grander  effort. 

"  For  Freedom's  battle,  once  begun. 
Though  baffled  oft,  is  ever  won." 

This  spirit  of  Freedom  led  the  Pilgrim  foot  to  Plymouth 
Rock.  It  reared  the  pioneer's  cabin,  and  hallowed  it 
with  woman's  love.  It  touched  with  celestial  sweetness 
the  lips  of  Patrick  Henry,  and  taught  Washington  the 
art  of  war.  It  bade  Jefferson  and  his  peers  condense  the 
world's  political  history  into  one  mighty  volume,  and 
then  embody  it  in  our  National  Constitution. 

At  the  close  of  this  wonderful  century  the  American 
voter  stands  a  Sovereign  in  his  religious  and  political 
rights,  and,  since  no  crown  can  stain  his  brow,nor  mitre 
crescent  or  ark  above  the  Constitution  claim  his  love, 
he  must  in  the  future  ever  stand  in  his  industrial  priv- 
ileges equal  in  dignity  to  any  other  man. 

It  is  one  of  the  supreme  attributes  of  our  citizenship, 
that  each  owns  himself — within  the  civil  law  question- 
ing science,  religion,  government  and  all  things,  deny- 
ing and  affirming  at  his-  own  dictation,  and  owing 
mastery  to  none  save  God. 

Aye,  since  Democracy  is  with  us  a  fact,  this  voter  is 
and  must  ever  remain  the  peer  of  an}-,  e'en  though  with 
crown  uncapped  or  mitre  decked. 

He  is  the  genuine  apostle  of  liberty,  who,  whatever 
his  birth,  is  loyal  to  the  genius  of  this  country,  but  he 
is  a  traitor,  though  native  born,  who  acknowledges 
over  our  domestic  affairs  the  sovereignty  of  any  foreign 

—139— 


autocrat,  or  who  bends  the  supliant  head  at  the  bid- 
ding of  a  financial  hierarchy,  though  entrenched 
at  Wall  Street  or  at  the  Capitol.  In  spite  of 
the  maledictions  of  that  defiled  priesthood,  if  an 
American  voter,  though  ever  so  poor,  be  honest,  no 
earthly  power  can  add  to  his  true  dignity;  if  he  be 
loyal  to  truth  and  inspired  by  a  love  for  his  home,  no 
mere  money  influence  can  sway  him  from  standing  by 
the  Constitution  and  in  this  dark  hour  demanding  the 
exercise  of  its  omnipotence  in  the  issuance  of  a  currency 
commensurate  with  our  needs  and  in  unison  with  the 
destiny  of  our  beloved  country. 

For  in  the  unfolding  cycles  of  the  race  it  is  by 
example  to  lead  in  the  liberation  of  the  oppressed,  and 
by  its  progress  to  aid  in  the  moral  and  political  illumin- 
ation of  the  world.  Our  nation  touched  the  problem  of 
self  thought  and  self  action,  and  Lo!  the  race  felt  the 
change.  By  its  blood-bought  victory,  dedicated  to 
freedom,  it  became  the  inspiration  for  all  peoples,  and 
set  the  pattern  in  its  constitution  that  humanity  has 
loved  to  copy. 

Behold  our  two  triumphs!  By  the  sword  of  " Sev- 
enty-Six "  we  won  a  single  empire.  But  by  an  IDEA  we 
have  since  brought  all  humanity  under  tribute.  For 
the  one  sublime  and  economic  truth,  that  proclaimed 
the  birth  of  a  Nation,  "ALL  MEN  ARE  CREATED 
EQUAL,"  has  been  surely  undermining  every  throne  in 
Christendom,  overturning  the  principle  of  "  rulership  by 
divine  right,"  and  forcing  into  recognition  the  plan  of 
self-government,  which  is  but  man's  triune  ownership 
of  his  own  labor — his  own  mind — his  own  body. 

Americans !  awake  to  your  responsibilit}-  and  duty. 

Put  away  arms  and  force,  and  turn  to  the  invin- 
cible and  safe  ballot-box. 

Concentrate  there  and  strike  for  industrial  freedom, 
not  with  bullets,  but  with  those  nobler  things— Ballots. 

-140- 


"A  weapon  that  comes  down  as  still 

As  snow-flakes  fall  upon  the  sod  ; 
But  executes  a  freeman's  will, 

As  lightning  does  the  will  of  God." 

When  intellect  and  morals,  condensed  in  your  votes, 
have  failed  and  wholly  failed  to  bring  relief,  then,  Oh! 
my  Countrymen !  and  not  till  then,  catch  the  drum- 
beats that  rang  out  at  Bunker  Hill,  and  again  feel  the 
valor  that  thrilled  the  world  at  Gettysburg,  and  taking 
new  courage,  enlist  in  the  august  movement,  pushing 
on  for  the  self-ownership  of  man. 

Cast  a  way  prejudices  and  resolutely  face  the  coming 
conflict,  whose  victory  shall  bring  a  true-loving  and 
co-operating  democracy,  under  whose  sway  the  provi- 
dences of  Nature  shall  be  free  for  all  to  use. 

Doubt  not,  Fellow-citizens!  that  largely  through 
an  ideal  and  exalted  currency,  created  out  of  our  own 
national  sovereign  will,  American  in  name,  American  in 
its  legal  powers,  American  in  the  lesson  of  finance 
taught,  this,  our  American  civilization,  shall  push  its 
mission : — 

On  !    Till  only  Truth  is  worshipped  at  every  shrine. 
Up!     Till  Liberty  has  left  no  man  bound  in   body  or 

mind,  or  denied  free  access  to  nature's  opportunities. 
Ahead  !  Till  the  Government  hails  all  her  children  with 

equal  love. 
Forward!    Till  the  proudest  title  in  all  this  world,  is 

to  say, 

•'I  AM  AN  AMERICAN." 


YC   14970 


